You are all that I adore
by HopeForDuende
Summary: Aria is a girl who can travel in her mind to another world where Vampire Diaries is a show and Mystic Falls is a myth. When a move brings her to the supernatural town, what's a girl to do? Apparently becoming a blood bag for the most impulsive and dickish vampire in town is how her story's gonna start. Ace!OFC, Damon/OFC, eventual Damon/Jeremy/OFC. NOT a love triangle, POLYAMOROUS
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

...

Damon climbed up onto the bed and settled himself next to her. His knees dug into the mattress as he leaned down right into her personal space. "You know me better than anyone. Better than myself."

The words were barely in the air before he was crushing his lips against hers. Aria's cry of surprise was muffled by his lips and the icepack dropped from her grip as she flailed. Her thoughts stuttered to a stop as Damon's mouth moved and danced across her own.

Though, when he reached up to cradle her neck, she found herself kicking him in the groin.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._

 **This was a scene around 30k into what I've written. Hope you enjoyed the teaser for the future and I'll be posting Chapter 1 tomorrow :) It'll be around 5k words. I look forward to starting this journey with you all. Title is from: Angel With a Shotgun- The Cab. Disclaimer: I have no rights to the story/characters etc.**


	2. Chapter 2

_So I changed my mind, chapter 1 is here early. Enjoy._

X

Aria was never much of anything growing up. In freshman year, she was the girl that everybody thought was homeschooled. Not because she never showed up to class, but because no one noticed her. She never had more than one class with any single person, and in her lunch times she hid away in the library.

It wasn't bad for her though, it was a life she enjoyed. In the library she could have her own kind of fun, reading, writing… and sometimes… sometimes she _travelled_.

There was no better word for it, Aria thought. Travelling was the one term she could name that described it right. At one moment she would be sitting in the library, the next in a car driving or watching T.V. or spending time with the friends she had in this other world she travelled to. It was like Alice in Wonderland, seeing through the looking glass and living another life, except for Aria, it _was_ her life. This other world where she spent most of her time lazing around and watching predictable television was _her_ life.

It never made much sense to her, but that was what she was.

In one life no one knew her, in the other _she_ didn't know anyone.

Every dream she had was always tied to this other place she travelled to. Such was the sole reason Aria could remain sane. Any normal person would have been tortured by the loneliness. She was but a girl trapped in her own mind, always dreaming of another existence that was something other than her own.

She'd told her mother about her adventures once when she was younger and knew less about the toxicity in the world. Her mother had laughed her off and teased her of having an overactive imagination.

Aria realised from then on there wasn't much point in telling anyone else. At the most they would ship her off to an insane asylum. _Am I crazy?_ The question plagued Aria's mind far too often.

Other than that there wasn't much to tell about her. She received average grades, due to the fact that she didn't partake in the common activity of homework. She didn't try out for any sports or clubs. Her spare time was spent travelling and watching shows or reading the books that existed in this other world. It always contained books that didn't come out until years later in her own verse.

Perhaps it was ahead in time, or her's was behind it.

Sometimes Aria was tempted to cheat the races or a bet of some similarity, but in the end Aria had no interest in money. There wasn't much she had in interest in, a fact she loathed herself for every day.

Television was tolerable, books were even more so. Reading was her only true vice she could claim as her favorite. Writing took the edge off, allowed her to explore some of her deeper fantasies; like riding a dragon or taming a sabertooth.

Aria lived in fantasies and futuristic notions. None of that bothered her, and she figured if she kept her mouth shut, she wouldn't bother anyone else.

And that was all she thought of herself. Someone who kept quiet and laid low.

If she was being honest, she didn't mind that fact— not at all.

X

When her parents broke the news to her that they were moving to some small-town called Mystic Falls, Aria was more than amused. After all, the place did serve as one of the locations for a show she watched. She'd though such a town would've been fictional, but apparently not.

"Your father's going to be partnering at one of the upcoming firms down there."

"What about you?" Aria asked, not all that interested in her mother's words. What she wanted was to get upstairs and start packing away her few items, but her mother kept getting in her way. Aria wasn't much of a hoarder. If someone ventured into her room they would find it to look kin to a hotel suite.

Politeness led her astray however, and so she listened to her mother's answer. "I'll be doing what I always do Aria. Now, go and see if your father needs you to finish any chores before you sleep."

Aria wasn't at all surprised. Her mother tended to stay home most of the time, _pretending t_ o do housework, and then go out for parties with her _gal-pals_. "'Course, Mom. Have a good night."

"You too, sweetie."

She stopped by her dad's office and poked her head in. "Hey."

"Oh hiya, my little lion cub, what's up?" His gaze didn't lift from his computer.

Aria shrugged. "Mom wanted me to check if you had any jobs for me before I went upstairs."

"That's nice of her," he answered, preoccupied with his laptop.

"I'll take out the trash, 'n grab the mail, sound good?"

He hummed in agreement.

Aria went ahead to do her jobs. She was going to miss their place, her school. She'd grown used to the system of being unnoticed and spending most of her time in her room. Aria's bedroom was her happy place. Her parents didn't bother her there as long as she did her chores. Nobody could contact her. She left her cellphone downstairs when she retreated into her space. _God,_ she was going to miss her room when she moved.

It was nice, the window was tinted so the sunrise didn't distract her. There were heavy curtains that she could draw down to block out the light. If she wanted, her room could be pitch black.

Aria _loved_ it.

There was no way her new place was going to be as… perfect.

She went to bed that night and dreamt of a sofa, a tub of popcorn and a marathon of House M.D.

X

The move turned out not to be total crap. Aria had fun ditching her part in helping unpack and instead wandered the town. It was already pretty late, the drive had taken _so long_. She passed many stores that were cute in their simplicity. Aria paused by an old book store, considered, then thought better of it.

She continued wandering for a long while. Her one relief was that she wouldn't have to start school for a week, perhaps longer. It was a freeing feeling, and on top of that, her parents wouldn't be home much. She could travel every second of each day if she wanted.

Speaking of which, Aria paused as she noticed the school up ahead. She slowed to a stop and ducked into whatever store was nearby. With a sigh, she realised it was the very book store she'd decided to pass up.

Aria berated herself for a moment. Why did she duck and hide at the sight of her future school? There were few years left before her graduation. There was nothing to be _scared_ of. She just had to lay low and…

 _Wait._

Aria pulled up short and her gaze snapped to the storefront window.

A girl was walking past, hair flying in the wind as she hugged herself, attempting to ward away the cold .

She couldn't help but let a murmur of, "No fucking way," slip from her lips.

She dashed out of the store, trying to search for that familiar figure in the distance. There was no sign of where they had gone.

If what she saw was real… Then…

It was the first day back at school for everyone else, right? Aria shook out her sleeves and started walking. She knew where to go, sort of. She just hoped she wouldn't get lost.

She followed the street signs and utilised her phone's GPS. That wasn't enough though, and she became confused at the middle of a crossroad. With a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, she squinted her eyes shut.

When she blinked them open, she was sat at a desk, computer awaiting her command.

Aria grinned and typed away, searching for a map of her new town.

Much to her confusion, nothing came up.

She sighed and figured that this world wouldn't be much help, and she shut her eyes again.

When she opened them she was back at the crossroad.

Aria searched around, then guessed left.

As luck would have it, she was right.

The cemetery loomed in the distance. Aria hid her face behind her hair and scurried through the tombstones. When she heard voices in the distance, down a hill, she ducked behind a tree.

She just wanted to watch… she had to _know_.

Two shadows talked and Aria spied. She looked and gaped and felt her stomach drop to her feet. She was right, as much as it shocked her to realise.

Stefan Salvatore and Elena Gilbert stood down there, as real as night and day.

Aria wondered what new messed up world she'd travelled too, and how she was supposed to get back to her _real_ one.

X

It was dark out when Aria headed home. She'd spent a long time in the local library trying to calm down and find _control_. She was almost positive this couldn't be her world. Unless her world now included vampires from one of the television shows she'd watched in the _other_ world she travelled to.

It was vampire-ception at it's finest.

Despite all of her efforts, the two worlds she could travel to was the one containing the real life Elena, and the world that contained the _character_ Elena. Aria rubbed at her throbbing temple and called it quits.

In the end, it was clear that this _was_ her world, and for some reason in this verse shit was seriously messed up.

X

Aria spent the next day in her other world. She lazed under the sun and flicked through a Spider Man comic. A part of her wanted to re-watch 'The Vampire Diaries', or read the books, or at least check up on the wiki. She decided against that though, there wasn't much point for Aria knew though that she was going to stay _far away_ from all that drama. She was going to make sure to never invite anyone into her home and _never_ interact with anyone in her supernatural new town.

Eventually she was drawn back to her own world. A tugging at the back of head, irritating like the beginnings of a headache.

"Aria, sweetie!"

She bolted upright, back in her bed, missing the sun.

"Yes, mom?"

"Come downstairs and meet your new friend."

Aria paused and after a few seconds made her way down the steps. The doorway was in clear sight, and low-and-behold there stood the surreal form of Caroline Forbes.

She froze. No _way_ was she saying hello.

"Sorry mother," Aria tried. "I'm unpacking! Knee-deep in books!"

Her mother laughed and carried on unfazed. "That's fine Aria! I'll send the young Miss Forbes up to say hello!"

Aria cursed her mother and dashed into her room.

She had to think _quickly_.

Aria _could_ be a big bitch and brush Caroline off, but then her mother might find out she was being impolite. Aria's mother was just another lady who fought hard for her standing in the community. That meant that Aria had to be _somewhat_ nice to Caroline.

Just not nice enough to garner a budding friendship with the girl.

"Hello?"

"In here!"

Caroline rounded the corner and stepped into Aria's room _just_ as the latter was shoving a box into her cupboard. "Sorry for the mess."

"No problem," Caroline waved her off and continued tip-toeing inside. "Sorry to interrupt. We always keep to the tradition of greeting the neighbors. My mother's the sheriff and she has this thing about having to know _everyone_ in town."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. You seem like the kind of people who enjoy getting into everyone's business." Aria's response didn't seem to deter the girl. Caroline smiled brightly at her and Aria resisted the urge to just shove her from the room and slam the door in her face.

"So you're going to be coming to school right?"

"Next week."

"Oh that's so cool. I can totally catch you up to date on everything going on, maybe even introduce you to-"

"To be honest, I'd rather unpack. It's a busy time."

"Right! Of course. I'll just… give you time to settle in?"

Aria nodded.

"Let me give you my number so that when you're settled in, we can meet up?"

Aria shrugged and lied, "I don't have a phone."

Caroline's expression fell at her words. "I see."

"Sorry. Good luck with your classes though. Maybe I'll see you around."

The poor girl looked like she'd never had a problem like this before. Like she'd never had a challenge befriending someone, or at least getting _some kind_ of contact for staying in touch. "Yeah. Maybe."

Aria was pretty proud of herself, and gave herself a mental pat on the back. "Bye then."

"Bye."

Caroline left in a somewhat dazed state. Aria grinned and settled back on her bed after shutting and locking her door.

Mission accomplished.

Life was better spent sitting in the sun and reading comics anyway.

X

The next day was spent in her other world streaming a new netflix series. It was pretty awesome.

X

Much to her dismay her second day of hiding away in her room was ruined by her mother dragging her out for a party in the town square. Aria knew well what such party symbolised. The beginning of hell for the town of Mystic Falls.

Aria already knew she was going to stand far away from _anyone_ and _any place_ that seemed vaguely familiar. If she saw a dark alley that maybe Stefan lurked in one time, she'd turn around and walk the other way.

Aria's father didn't join them, so she slid away as soon as they arrived. She found a quiet spot and pulled out her phone.

It wasn't long before the square filled up and her hideaway was invaded. No one bothered her, and it seemed maybe her plan worked.

Then someone bumped into her.

Hard.

Her gaze snapped up, but she didn't plan to say anything.

She didn't end up having to.

"Excuse you," the man said.

It was dark and difficult to make out the man, especially when she was too busy looking at her feet to make sure she wouldn't trip again. "Sorry," Aria mumbled. She wasn't one to stand up for herself just to end in unnecessary confrontations.

"Better move somewhere else. Lot of traffic in this area."

Her one mistake was looking up. If she hadn't looked up, maybe her fate would be changed. Maybe her life wouldn't be turned upside down and inside out. She did though. Aria looked up, and… "Holy _shit_."

"Hmm?"

None other than Damon Salvatore stood there, a single brow quirked. Aria's immediate response was to retreat into her mind, because no _way_ was she going to deal with Damon _freaking_ Salvatore. She found her head dropping as her eyes squeezed shut. _Anywhere but here_ , she chanted in her head _, anywhere but here. Please God, anywhere but here_.

Sure enough she was in her other world, watching television.

Only she was soon ripped back into her real one.

Damon's fingers grabbed at her chin, tilting her head back and forth. "I haven't given you a concussion have I?" His question came with a strong underlying demeaning vibe. It was like he was saying; O _h you fragile little human. So weak, so easy to break_.

Aria was offended but she kept her mouth shut. If she didn't say anything, he'd leave her alone, right?

Her life flashed before her eyes, all the good memories- and bad- but nonetheless, she didn't want to _die_.

"Cat got your tongue? Okay. I can work with that." Damon stepped back and tilted his head _down_ , eyes beseeching. Aria feared what he was searching for. Whether she would be his next meal? His next little human toy? "Too bad I have better things to do. I would have _loved_ to make you speak little pup." He tapped Aria's nose before turning and walking off.

He disappeared in the crowd.

Aria felt like she could finally _breathe_ again.

Damn.

That had been _way_ too close.

X

Aria began to search for her mother as soon as she'd recovered from the frightening confrontation with the oldest of the Salvatore brothers. She dodged and weaved through the bustling crowd, trying to move as fast as possible to the center where her mother would be.

Like she had predicted, Aria did in fact spot her mother chatting to some other ladies. All of which seemed to be the more prominent members of town. Her mother was probably trying to talk her way into every possible future event. That was her skill, getting invited to places she had no purpose being at. Just as she was about to approach, arms snaked around her waist and hoisted her up from the ground. Her feet left the earth and suddenly her world was nothing but a blur. Shadows passed, voices faded. Her surroundings came in focus again.

With that came the realization that, _fucking hell_ , she was in the middle of a dark, deserted parking lot. It didn't take her long to put the pieces together.

"Ah I'm _soooo_ sorry I didn't take time to teach you a lesson about manners earlier, but now I've got some free time." Damon circled her, the vampire's face shifted into an excited expression. His blue eyes were gleaming, cerulean gems filled with mischief and _hunger_. Aria's stomach turned inside out and her blood went cold with fear. He stared at her intensely, hands tightly gripping her shoulders. "You're not going to be afraid, and you aren't going to run either."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Aria felt her heart beat slow to it's normal place. She felt ridiculously calm, irrationally so. She tried to focus her thoughts, figure out what she was _truly_ feeling. It helped that she had her other world and without a second thought she squinted her eyes shut.

She wasn't _stuck_ , she could still run even though she now knew Damon had compelled her.

Her other self was relaxing on her bed and reading. Aria distanced herself as much as she could from her world. It gave her a few brief seconds to basically narrow down her thoughts to, _well I'm going to die_.

Helpful.

Sure enough, only a few seconds later a sharp pain pierced through her brain and she was back, standing in what would soon be her place of death.

"I lost you for a second there. I won't lose you again." Damon's grip had become bone shattering, and Aria struggled in vain. The man before her scoffed and peered into her ochre eyes once more. "Don't fight."

Aria choked back a sob as she felt her natural impulses be twisted again. "I won't."

"Gooood," he drew the word out as he looked her over with a devilish smirk. "You are _such_ a boring little thing aren't you? Tell me, would anyone miss you?"

His gaze was all-consuming and Aria answered in a scattered babble. "Yes. Yes I have a mother and a father. We just moved here, no friends."

All the information Damon needed to decide whether to murder her or not.

Aria stayed abnormally still as Damon pursed his lips. The bastard was clearly considering how quickly he could kill her and hide her body. "That's going to put a wrinkle in things. I do _love_ a challenge though."

Damon's face was rapidly morphed by veins and surreally dark eyes. He opened his maw and his fangs were mere inches from Aria's face. She felt a distant panic at the back of her mind, originating from her other world. Perhaps those feelings could help her think, help her realise the dire situation she was in. "Wait! Please! Wait!"

She clung to her faint panic like a life ring, hoisting her from the ocean's depth and keeping her from drowning. Damon's right eyebrow shot up.

"I have information," Aria said quickly, letting the words spill from her mouth. A plan was forming, a plan to keep her from death. "About you, and your brother. About both of your futures and pasts. Kill me and you'll never know what I know."

Damon paused as though he was willing to hear what she had to say, but he seemed terribly aggrieved like such a thing was a waste of time. "Alright, I'll play along."

"You're name is Damon Salvatore, you have a brother, Stefan. You're both vampires."

He rolled his eyes. "Obvious."

"You want to release Katherine from the tomb and also torment your brother whilst you're here. There's a girl called Elena Gilbert, your brother's going to fall in love with her…" Aria paused, for dramatic effect if nothing else. "And so are you."

As she spoke Damon's brows drew closer and closer as he grew more and more confused by her words. Aria cursed herself for not being more careful. Look at the mess she was in now! She'd only wanted to _stay out_ of all the trouble in the supernatural town.

"How do you know all of this?"

Compelled, Aria opened her mouth to tell the truth. However, she stopped. Perhaps it was because of the habit to keep her _travelling_ a secret, or because having another self to travel too meant she wasn't as affected by compulsion- but Aria kept herself from telling Damon the real reason behind her wealth of knowledge. "Dreams. I have… weird dreams. Like visions."

Damon seemed skeptical.

"When you bumped into me I saw some things about your future, and now that you're holding me I see even more."

The vampire instantly let go of her as though her skin suddenly burned like fire. "What else?" He leaned a little bit closer and those cerulean gems of his narrowed as they kept contact with her own eyes. He was compelling her and Aria feared for how her new plan would turn out.

"Something about a moon stone. A mountain lion. I see a lot of deaths at your hands." Aria felt her throat close up and she choked a sob. She raised a gaze blurred with tears to plead with the vampire. "Please don't kill me."

Aria felt pathetic. Begging to Damon Salvatore. The last thing he deserved were her tears.

"You're _interesting_." Damon was quiet for a few moments, then, "Maybe I won't kill you." Aria could practically see the light bulb blinking to life above his head. He had a plan, and Aria was undoubtedly going to be the main victim of it. "Although I _am_ still hungry. Tell me one more thing before I sate my appetite," he looked down at her like she was nothing. She was but a new toy of his and Aria _hated_ that fact. "Where do your parents live?"

It was like a switch was flicked, and Aria struggled against Damon's grip with all her might. "No! Let me go! I'll never tell you!"

"Stop. _Stop_." She couldn't compete against his unnatural strength and Aria was turned around so that Damon could hold her gaze again. "You _will_ tell me. Don't worry, I won't hurt them. I just have to make sure no one will look for you."

Aria didn't believe him for a second and she clung to the sanity at the brim of her mind.

"Seriously. I have enough bodies to cover up as it is."

He held onto her and Aria knew she was screwed no matter what she did. She had no faith that he wouldn't hurt her parents, but it wasn't like she could resist his compulsion forever.

With one last attempt to get free, a tug of her arm followed by the bruising of her wrist in retort, Aria relented and told him what he wanted to know.

Once the words were in the air, Damon's fangs pierced her neck.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._


	3. Chapter 3

**You guys reviewed so you get the next chapter :) {Starting to see how this whole author-reader relationship works? ily}**

* * *

When Aria woke up she quickly realised she was tied down to a bed with horrific straps tightly clamped around her wrists and ankles. Cracked leather bands grating against her flesh There was nothing in the room other than the bed and a bedside table with a lamp. The door looked old and _heavy_. She would never manage to break it down. It was a cell and Aria was the prisoner.

She let out a sob and the movement sent a flare of pain down her neck- the bite. What was she going to do?

Aria shut her eyes and went to a better place, hoping that when she came back there would no longer be creepy torture rooms, restraints _or_ vampires.

X

She spent a long few hours in her other world, having a blissful time reading her favorite tale.

It came to an end too soon.

A pain at her neck, phantom at first and then all too real.

Aria was back in her cell with a vampire _drinking_ from her.

She whimpered, helpless to fight back because of the restraints.

"Thought I'd wake you up."

Damon sat back and patted her shin. The bastard had Aria's blood dripping from his mouth, like a vicious lion after lunch. He needed a kleenex or something, Aria was sickened by the sight. It was so _different_ from what she saw through a screen and a DVD. This was happening to her. The pain was _hers_. The blood, unfortunately, was also _hers_.

"Sorry, couldn't resist a snack. It's been _hours_ and I was bored too. Now you're awake though and I'm not as hungry anymore. So we're going to talk."

Aria knew what was coming.

"Tell me everything you know about Katherine."

She knew she didn't have to tell him _everything_ , so she settled on telling him what he deserved to know. "She was never in the tomb. She struck a deal with George Lockwood and has been free this whole time. She never came to visit to you or Stefan, by her own choice." Aria watched his expression carefully. It was hard to tell if he believed her or not. "She never loved you, only ever Stefan."

Damon stared at her in silence for a very long time. Aria imagined that it was because he was considering all the ways he could kill her.

Unsurprisingly, Damon growled and his face shifted, eyes flashing as his fangs grew.

The pain wasn't as bad as the first or second time.

Except this time Damon didn't stop.

Maybe she was going to die anyway.

X

Aria woke up and was immediately disappointed. If only she'd died.

Now she was just stuck again.

Well…. sort of.

She slipped off into her other world

X

The break was longer this time, although she felt a little guilty. She'd never spent so much time in the other world before, and it was clear the people surrounding her in such world were growing impatient, suspicious. Aria didn't want to try and figure out how it all worked (Whose body did she take over? What happened to the real owner of the body?) , she'd spent so much time on that already.

So she binge-watched Castle until there was another phantom pain in her neck.

"There you are. You are one _heavy_ sleeper."

Aria fought tears as she watched him lick his lips, savoring her blood. "What do you want now?" She asked through baited breaths.

"You're acting as my feed bag right at the moment, so other than your blood, more information would be nice. I suppose I over reacted last time. I never got around to testing you."

"Testing?" Aria huffed. "I'm not playing your games."

"You don't have any choice." Damon was suddenly on top of her, straddling her and pinning her down. His eyes bore into hers and she was _lost_. "Elena invited me into her home tonight. What's her deal?"

Aria remained silent.

"Of course by that I mean, if I _supposedly_ fall in love with her, what happens between then and now?"

His weight made left her feeling too claustrophobic. She wanted him _off_.

"She finds out about vampires, changes you to be less of a _dick_." Aria spat the last word with layers of hate and _disgust_.

Damon smirked and in an instant he was across the room, leaning against the door. "Humans are annoying with their needs. It's nearly been two days. You need food and water and… _bathroom breaks_ if I'm going to keep you as my personal blood bank. So go ahead. You're free to go piss and raid the kitchen."

Aria frowned and glanced down. With a start she realised she _was_ free. There were no more restraints. She regarded Damon cautiously, but when he opened the door for her and stepped aside with a gesture for her to _go ahead_ , she bolted.

There wasn't a single intention of escape in her body, simply the urge to pee. She apologised profusely to her bladder, but at least because she'd been starved of water the urge wasn't as bad as it could be. Sure, she could relieve herself in the other world, taking away the mental need to do so, but the physical need was still there. She was positive she'd done some serious damage to her bladder for holding on so long.

There was a single hall that passed a plain bathroom. Aria ducked in and shut the door, locking it behind her. She waited long enough to make sure Damon wasn't going to bust in and peeve on her, before settling on the toilet.

So… she was in a home of some sort. _Not_ the mansion.

Well of course she wasn't in the boarding house, Stefan would have found out about Damon keeping a prisoner if she _was_ being kept there. Damon must have fixed up the room especially for her then… How _sweet_.

When she was finished she flushed and washed her hands. Her eyes were drawn to the shower, but there was no way she was going to risk her safety by taking one. Not with Damon so close. It'd be a _very_ bad idea. Aria had watched more than enough horror movies to know that much. Maybe when he left… and _if_ he left the restraints off.

There were sounds coming from down the hall. Aria glanced back the other way, saw the door to her prison was still open. Damon must be in the… kitchen then. Aria hurried onward, feeling the faint ebbs of hunger in her stomach. Again, she was incredibly grateful for her other world. No need to _feel_ hungry.

"This house doesn't really have much in it, does it? I hope you like canned tuna and stale bread."

"Who did you kill for this place?" Aria sat down at the bench, body too weak to stand for long.

Damon scoffed. "No one. The owners are out of town and I convinced their son to let me in. He's off staying at a hotel somewhere paying with Stefan's credit card."

Aria couldn't help it. At the idea of Damon sneaking his brother's credit card like some naughty teenager, she laughed.

 _God_ she was delusional.

"That's the spirit." Damon grinned and slid over the plate. "Dig in."

She hesitated.

Damon's eyes glinted. "Dig _in_."

Aria ignored the utensils and tore at the bread. It didn't taste good at all, but she finished and started on the can of tuna. Damon had given her a tiny fork. How _considerate_.

"So she finds out about us? How?"

Aria swallowed the grainy meal and tore off another piece of bread. If this was her only chance at food for the foreseeable future she wasn't going to let it go to waste.

Eventually she managed an answer. "Elena is smart. She works it out. Takes her a while."

"What's her reaction?" Damon suddenly grew excited. "Oh do tell me they break up."

"She accepts it in time."

Damon chuckled. "Of course. Anything for Saintly Stefan. Ugh, it's so predictable." He tapped against the counter and watched as Aria scooped every last bit of tuna from the container. "I'm going to let you move around the place, but under no circumstances are you allowed to leave."

"Sure," Aria answered without looking up.

Strong fingers gripped her chin and tilted her face up. She met Damon's gaze. "I repeat, you _cannot_ leave, or make any attempt to escape."

Aria felt his command settle in her bones. She nodded.

He let go and tilted his head. "Tell me about the tomb."

Aria was a little confused why he was questioning more about the tomb. Earlier the subject seemed to upset him. She had to tread carefully.

"You're going to try to open it, for Katherine. She isn't in there. It has something to do with a spell, an amulet. You'll open it and twenty-seven vampires will be released. They'll want revenge on the town."

"Am I supposed to care about that?"

"You will."

Damon huffed and looked to the roof. "You're making a lot of _big_ statements little one." His gaze snapped back down to rest on her face. "Another test then. What do you know about Vicki?"

"You're going to keep having fun with her. Eventually you'll turn her because you're bored. She won't have any control. She'll try to kill Elena, someone will kill her before she can."

He tutted and reached out to pat her head. Aria wished she was still able to flinch away. Damn compulsion. "Well I won't be bothering with that _stupid_ idea. Besides, I have you to keep me from boredom."

"With more tests?"

"More tests. Caroline?"

"You'll give her the amulet. She'll give it to Bonnie." Aria paused. Maybe she should be playing this up a little more… "Let me touch you again. I need more visions."

Damon didn't move.

Aria hesitated and then reached out and grabbed onto his hand.

He didn't pull away.

The sleaze.

After a moment of staring into space, Aria pulled her hand back. "Bonnie will put it on and be possessed. Whatever possessed her destroys the amulet _and_ sets fire to some grass."

"That's not going to happen." Damon glared at nothing. "It sounds like Emily is going to go back on our little _deal_ …"

"You don't need to open the tomb Damon. I told you. Katherine isn't in there."

He shook his head. "I don't believe you."

"Find Anna. Ask her." With that helpful tip Aria turned and headed back to her cell. It was a risky move but one she was willing to take.

She was done with Damon-interaction for the day, and her appetite had been sorely ruined.

Much to her relief, the vampire didn't follow her.

X

As soon as she was sure Damon was gone for good, Aria took a shower. She found some clothes in the hallway cupboard (loose fitting pants and a simple tee), some towels in the bathroom shelves. It was nice to scrub off the three day grime. She made the bed a bit more comfortable by weaving a layer of sweaters and placed a glass of water on the bedside table.

Then she settled down for the long haul.

X

"How am I supposed to gain my brother's trust?"

Damon was licking away her blood like usual, and Aria fought against the dizziness that always followed his bite and subsequent _drinking_. Aria had never had a fear of needles, but now she was sure she'd have a fear of getting her blood taken. When she could manage it, she handed him a napkin, because she'd kept some on the table especially for him.

Well, it was more for herself. She hated seeing him lap at her blood.

"You start by trying his diet. You don't have to stick with it, but it will show you're trying. Also, stop with the random murders." Aria couldn't help but add bitterly, "Maybe also not keeping a prisoner would help."

"But you're so much _fun_. I'm not ready to let you go yet," Damon said as he traced up and down Aria's cheek. She resisted the urge to bite off his fingers. "The murders though would have to stop eventually. What do you know of the council?"

"They're annoying."

Damon chuckled. "Besides that."

"You will earn their trust. Supply them with vervain, help them stake some vampires."

"It would be useful to have them in my pocket. It's a shame I won't be able to claim these ideas as my own." The corner of Damon's mouth lifted into a half smile as his eyes met hers. His blue orbs were filled with amusement. "You mentioned Anna yesterday…"

"Annabelle Zhu," Aria confirmed. "She arrived the night of the comet. She plans to mislead you into thinking Katherine is in the tomb, just so you will help her mother to escape."

"Interesting. And how does that turn out for them both?"

Aria paused. Once again she played it up and grabbed onto his hand. He didn't seem to mind at all that she was touching him. Aria wondered whether he received some kind of sick pleasure from holding hands with her. Suddenly she was rethinking the whole 'having to touch to receive visions' lie she had told him.

She didn't stare off in space for nearly as long that time, not wanting to touch the vampire keeping her captive any longer. "They die soon after."

Damon belted out a loud laugh and rubbed her shin like he was _petting_ her. Aria hated the idea. "Serves them right for tricking me. Where can I find her?"

"In a motel."

"Aww, I need more than _that_." His fingers dug deeply into her leg and pain flared hot and bright. Aria pressed herself into the mattress, just wanting to disappear forever.

She gasped for breath as she'd been holding back tears. She vowed never to cry in front of Damon Salvatore _ever_ again. He didn't deserve her tears. "Find Ben McKittrick. He works as a bartender at the Grill. Anna will, or may have already, turned him."

"You are like my own personal fortune teller. Why on earth would I ever let you go?"

Aria knew the question was rhetorical, but she answered anyway. "Because you're not a monster, you still have _some_ humanity in you, despite what you tell Stefan." His eyes flashed hotly with anger. She'd struck a nerve. "And I'm supposed to go back to school next week."

"You don't have to though." Damon smirked and started crawling over her again, knees pressing at each of her sides. He leaned close so his breath washed over her and Aria felt like she would be sick. "You could stay here and we could keep having _fun_."

"Please just let me go." Aria's voice was shaky, on the verge of hysterical sobs. She reigned it in though, because she saw a chance at freedom. Or at least, pseudo-freedom. Aria knew well that from now on she would _always_ be Damon's little toy. "I just want to go home. You can keep drinking from me and playing your game but I _don't_ want to be-"

"Hush, hush. Don't get upset." Damon pressed a finger to her lips and smiled down at her. His expression was entirely predatory and utterly terrifying. She was completely at his disposal, Aria couldn't fight him. "Say I _do_ let you go. It's clear you're not as acceptive of my compulsions than other silly humans. How can I trust that you won't go running to the sheriff? Or won't just… disappear?"

Aria narrowed her eyes at him. "I imagine you will threaten my parent's lives."

"Brilliant. You understand _perfectly_." Damon slipped off her and stalked to the door. Aria felt like she could finally breathe again, and she gulped in air faster than her lungs could keep up. Then when she was done, Damon spoke up. "I won't let you go. I'm not ready to ruin to fun _just yet_."

When he was finally out of sight Aria gave into the slight stream of hope that was building in her chest.

X

When Damon next returned he seemed furious. He rushed into her room as though he were a whirling storm ready to wreak havoc. He didn't wait long to bite into her neck and take what he wanted without permission. Aria was used to it though, and envied the bite shaped scar that would forever mar her skin.

It took him a long while to finish and by then Aria was ridiculously light-headed. She worried she would faint, and Damon must have noticed that. "Oops," he said with a shrug. "I forgot how weak you humans are."

"Give me a minute," Aria pleaded breathlessly and she turned and laid back down on the bed.

"I have a present for you though, don't fall asleep _yet_."

Drinking her blood must have seriously lifted his mood. She was _glad_ she could help. Aria shifted so she could see him, but even that small movement made her feel like an earthquake just occurred. She was awfully off kilter, despite having grown used to being Damon's 'feed bag'.

"Look," Damon was there and holding a bulging garbage bag. He turned it upright and let it's contents spill to the ground. Aria spotted her toothbrush in the mess. "Clothes and food. What more could a girl want?"

Aria gave him a bitter smile. "Freedom. An education."

"That's _right_ , you still need to learn." Damon was instantly in her face and grabbing onto her auburn hair. He tugged it back harshly, tilting her head upwards. "I've been enjoying hearing you _speak_ and your bite seems to be as good as your bark. The only issue with all of that is you're _my_ toy. _Act_ like it."

"You want me to roll over?" Aria felt a spark of defiance and she grasped at it, hauled it forward, brought it home. "Want me to beg? Sit? _Lie_ here until you get _bored_ with me?"

"Yes."

Aria blew out a long, frustrated breath. She glared at Damon, channeling all her hate and disgust and _sorrow_ into that one look. The vampire's cocky expression didn't change, but Aria thought she saw something shift in his gunmetal eyes.

Maybe she was just grasping at straws. She didn't really care.

"I'm done for today." Aria's voice broke the silence. Petulantly, she turned away from the vampire haunting her side. "Leave me alone."

A moment later, she didn't hear him go, but she knew he had gone.

X

Aria was making herself lunch when Damon entered through the front door. He pulled off a pair of shades and joined her at the table. She set down the sandwich she'd finished making and met his gaze square on. "What did you do to my parents?"

"Compelled them." Damon reached forward and stole her sandwich. Aria didn't dare argue. He took a great bite and spoke with his mouth full. "I tracked down Anna. You're going to come with me to meet her."

"After I've had my lunch," Aria responded before turning and starting another meal for herself.

Damon's hand clamped around her elbow and spun her around. He held her gaze. His pupils thinned into dots dabbed with black ink."You're coming with me _now_. We'll pick up a burger on the way."

Compelled, Aria put away the ingredients and walked by Damon's side. He led her _out_ and Aria couldn't help but breathe in deeply, shut her eyes against the sun. She felt his attention on her, but she ignored him.

"Come on." Damon tugged on her arm.

She sighed and reluctantly followed him to his car.

X

The ride was tense and Aria desperately wished Damon would turn on the radio. Instead the vampire drove well above the speed limit and kept glancing at her. She didn't know what he wanted and his looks were beginning to grow annoying.

"Stop it." Aria felt awfully uncomfortable being so close to the vampire. He could snap her neck in an instant. She'd already told him _so much_ , perhaps he didn't consider her useful anymore? "Stop."

"Stop what?" Damon questioned with a smug smirk. He knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

"Looking at me." Aria firmly settled herself to look out the window.

Stupid of her to turn her back on him, and she realized that too late.

Only… he didn't take advantage of that fact.

He didn't bite her neck or tear through her spine or any number of horrific things Aria envisioned. God, he was driving her to insanity.

She watched as they drove through the town. If only one of the strangers out there realized she'd been kidnapped, she wished fiercely. If only someone saved her. Aria felt tears prick at the back of her eyes and she quickly wiped at the wetness.

They took turn after turn and Aria tried _desperately_ to keep track, but mentally she wasn't well enough to focus for so long. When they pulled up at a motel Aria quickly clambered out of the car. Her knees were too weak and she crumbled, palms scraping against gravel.

"Clumsy," Damon tssked and too quickly he was there hauling her upright. He glanced at her hands, and Aria feared he would _lick_ them clean of blood.

Instead he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cloth, wiping down her scraped hands with quick efficiency. Aria was confused by his gentle touch.

"I'll bandage them later. Head upstairs. Room one-hundred thirty-three."

Bandage them later? The offer seemed out of place on Damon's lips.

Aria led the way, which added to her confusion. Damon was letting her lead. Why?

Did he just not expect her to try to escape?

She felt a little disappointed in herself when she realized it was true.

She no longer had the will to try and run away.

When they stopped at the right door Damon gestured for Aria to knock. She did.

It swung open on the first tap.

"What-"

Damon stepped closer. "Hello Annabelle."

Aria suddenly wished she were invisible.

Anna stared at Damon. The latter grinned. "Mind if we come in?"

Too stunned to answer, Anna merely let herself be shoved aside as Damon pushed his way inside. Aria stayed back and waited for both vampires to disappear inside before hesitantly passing through the doorway.

There wasn't much to see in the room. Damon and Anna faced off just to the side. Aria was relieved not to see Ben in the room. A newly turned vampire certainly wouldn't help this confrontation. "What are you doing here?" Damon asked, getting straight to the point.

"Just passing through."

He shook his head, freakishly tame smile still plastered on his face. "I don't believe you."

"How did you find me?" Anna asked. She didn't sound scared, but nor did she sound in control either. "I'm not interested in becoming involved with your business Damon."

"Huh. I find _that_ interesting. Want to know why?" Damon pressed closely and Aria watched as Anna swallowed thickly. It was scary as hell to face the wrath of Damon Salvatore. "Because a little birdy told me you wanted to _use_ me to crack open the tomb."

It was pretty damn obvious when Anna realized she was _fucked_.

Damon didn't let her respond, clearly seeing the truth in her fear struck eyes. He moved closer and _towered_ over the other vampire. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to _leave_ this town _and_ take all of your _pets_ with you. If I see you anywhere near me, or that tomb again, I will rip your heart out."

Aria had to admit that she was pleased that Damon had listened to her.

Now, hopefully, Damon would let her go.

She'd helped him more than enough, right?

X

Damon took her back to her cell and left her there.

Aria didn't even bother to feel disappointed.

X

When Damon next returned he brought a burger and some fries and apologised for forgetting them the other day.

He sat down across from her and told her to eat.

Aria ate but didn't answer any of the questions he asked.

Damon didn't leave.

She went to bed.

X

He was still there a few hours later. Aria had grown bored of feigning sleep.

"Ready to talk? Gotten over your _mood_ yet?"

Aria sunk into the couch next to Damon. She couldn't be bothered trying to avoid him anymore. "What do you want to know now?"

"Your name."

Aria huffed. "You're not interested in _that_ Damon. Stop playing." She played with the cloth wrapped around her hand. In the end, Damon _had_ wrapped her hands, but with quick efficient tugs that did the job but weren't exactly painless. At least he'd tried.

"I'm serious."

She stared at him and answered flatly, "Aria Bailey."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

Damon groaned. "Underage. Of course. Jail bait."

"That normally wouldn't stop you."

"True. True." He stretched out on the couch, left arm resting behind her neck, like some cheesy move from a romantic comedy. "Tell me, honestly, do I have a chance at gaining my brother's trust?"

Aria nodded. "In time, yes."

"Fine then." Damon stood up. He looked down at Aria. "I suppose that means I should let you go then. If I'm to _truly_ earn my brother's trust."

Aria felt like the floor had been ripped out from under her. Thank God she was sitting down.

"Really?" She managed to ask tentatively.

Damon nodded shortly. "Right after I eat," he said before leaning over Aria and biting into the flesh of her neck.

The pain was nothing against the swelling tide of hope in her gut.

She was going to be free.

She just hoped he wasn't lying.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._


	4. Chapter 4

**I am wowed and humbled by your response to this fic, thank you guys so much. {P.S you guys reviewed so you get this chap sooner.} Enjoy!**

* * *

There was one thing that was bad about being home. It meant she had to go back to school. Damon dropped her off and unceremoniously chucked out her garbage bag of clothes. "I'll swing by tomorrow for dinner," he called and sped off.

Aria was left wondering how much longer she'd be left to suffer through this mess.

X

She covered up with a scarf to her first day of school.

No one noticed.

No one even talked to her.

Probably because she looked like walking death.

The worst thing was that her parents didn't even notice.

Compulsion sucked.

X

Damon climbed in through her window that night. Normally Aria would've been scared shitless. Instead she watched cooly as the vampire approached and tilted her neck. His fangs sunk into her flesh and he drank.

"Why didn't you ask Anna about Katherine?" Aria asked when he pulled away.

He didn't answer, simply disappeared off into the night.

 _A vampire in denial_ , Aria mused as she pressed a cloth to her neck.

She wondered if there were therapists that specialised in the supernatural.

X

Damon picked her up from school the next day.

Aria was disturbed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Making up for that one week I held you prisoner, like a good friend should."

Aria glared at him, but was unable to stop herself from sliding into the car. "We're friends?"

"Of course! You helped me threaten someone. That definitely puts points in the friendship meter." He turned with a smirk on his face. "And there's no take-backsies."

"I'll stab you with a stake."

Damon's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Kinky, what brought this on?"

"Maybe I'm a little pissed off because you, oh I don't know, _strapped me to a bed and drunk my friggin' blood_." Aria crossed her arms and kicked her feet up onto the dash, like a tiny act of defiance.

Damon sighed and reached over to pat her leg, one hand still steering the wheel. "You'll need to calm down a bit if you're going to meet my brother."

"I don't _want_ to meet your brother, or any of your other friends. I just want to go home."

"I figured you of all people would want to meet Saintly Stefan, but okay. Want to go see a movie then? Get some snacks? Throw popcorn at the screen when the writers fuck up their job?"

"No."

"Aw c'mon Ari, don't be like this. Where's that sunshine little ball of sass everyone knows and loves?" Damon poked her shoulder and she _wished_ she could flinch away from his touch. "What do you want to do then, huh?"

"Go home."

Damon shifted and caught her gaze. His pupils narrowed and Aria resigned herself to what was coming. "Give me a proper answer. Something fun, like breaking into an exe's home and setting fire to it."

 _Of course he'd think that would be fun_. "I'd like to go home and read," Aria found herself answering. She wondered if that would disappoint the vampire. Maybe it would, and she'd be able to go home alone.

He surprised her by answering with a grin, "Great! Let's go do that then."

Aria desperately wished she knew what Damon was up to.

X

Damon borrowed her copy of The Lost Symbol.

He turned out not to be that bad of a reading buddy; quiet, still and above all— he didn't bend back the cover of the book.

Aria didn't notice she'd fallen asleep until she woke up to a chilly breeze.

The window was open and Damon was no where to be found.

X

Damon returned the following night and drank her blood before settling down and reading once more. Aria stared at him openly, trying to convey a nonverbal message of _get the fuck out_.

"Why are you still here?" Aria finally asked, realizing the non-verbal cue wasn't loud enough.

The vampire looked up from his reading and tilted his head at her. "Because we're friends and I wanted to hang out with you."

"Friends don't suck each other's blood."

"Why do you always have to put a damper on things?" Damon sighed and stood, heading over to plop himself down next to her. He gazed at her with seemingly-innocent eyes. "I was thinking about Elena today…"

"You're right on track then."

Damon ignored her taunt. "Stefan and Elena are _utterly_ sickening. Maybe I should just spook her away from him. How do you think that would go?"

"It would be stupid. She helps you both out quite a few times in the future. She's also a key to many supernatural events in future. It would be wise to keep her close. Plus you two end up becoming friends."

"But I have _you_. I don't need a new friend." Damon's eyebrows drew together. "Especially not someone as criticising as Elena. I can just imagine how petty she'll be when she finds out _I'm_ responsible for all those deaths."

"It won't be that bad." _Better her than me_ , Aria decided.

"I'm afraid you're stuck with me either way."

Aria pinned him with an unimpressed look. "I'm positively _charmed._ "

"That's the spirit!"

She rolled her eyes and went back to reading, only for her book to be plucked from her hands. "Aria, seriously, tell me what I should be doing?"

He looked at her like he genuinely wanted to know her opinion. It set something stirring in her chest. "I don't know. I can't tell you what the right path is. I can just tell you what you _were_ going to do. If you want to change that, then go ahead. It's your life, your future. Mostly I just want you to leave me out of it."

"I can't leave you out of it now though Ari. You're far too important to me."

Right. Because he wanted to drink her blood and use her future knowledge to assist his own evil ploys. Aria snatched her book back, Damon letting her, and went back to reading.

Damon was gone when she next hazarded a glance.

X

Damon showed up looking incredibly proud of himself. Aria set aside her homework and prepared herself for whatever Damon had in mind. "Guess what?"

"What?" Aria played along.

He scooted on top of the desk and picked up her history homework. He clucked his tongue, eyes scanning down the page. "Ugh. Boring. Anyway! I had a brilliant plan I just enacted. I planted a mountain lion in the woods so that all of my murders would be blamed on the animal."

"Oh?"

His face fell. "You don't sound surprised."

"Psychic," Aria tapped her temple. "Duh. I knew already."

"Wow you really take the fun out of everything. Does my plan work?"

"As long as you don't kill anyone else through… 'vampiric' means."

Damon gave himself a tiny clap and then hopped and flopped on Aria's bed. The force knocked off a few pillows, but Damon ignored that and tucked his hands behind his head. He sighed contentedly. "As long as you provide me with a healthy blood supply, that shouldn't be an issue."

"Actually Stefan locks you up after weakening you with vervain. He'll starve you so you won't be able to control yourself when you're finally free." Aria frowned as a thought hit her. "Though that's only if you're spending time with Caroline."

He lifted his head. "Caroline who?"

"Huh. Guess you've been spending too much time messing with me to mess with _her_."

Damon's grin became sultry. "Mess with her? Ooo, what fun did _Caroline_ and I get up to?"

"Things that I wouldn't dare to ever describe." Aria directed her attention back to her homework. She just hoped Damon would leave soon so she could get it done. She was focused so intently on her homework, trying to ignore Damon's presence, that she didn't notice when the vampire knelt down next to her. "What do you want?"

"Need any help?" Damon smiled mirthlessly at her. "I happen to know quite a lot about history."

"I'd rather ask Bing for help than ask _you_."

Aria nearly jumped from her seat when Damon started laughing. She honestly hadn't expected him to respond. He fell against her, shaking with laughter. Damon's hand landed on her shoulder as he held himself up.

"That was _supposed_ to be offensive."

"Kitty may have scratch but your claws can't get to me." His cerulean orbs were filled with amusement as he slid her homework in front of him and begun making notes on it with a red pen. Aria had half a mind to wonder when he'd started stealing stationary from her.

She sat back in her chair and watched as the vampire read her _homework_. "I suppose you do know a lot about history. Probably because you are so old."

Her taunt wasn't said with much conviction. Damon turned to her with sparkling eyes anyway. "Honey, at my age you realize it _really is_ just a number."

"If you're so immune to getting offended, why did you kill Mr. Tanner?"

Damon stilled. "Now I'm a vampire and even _I know_ that was a low blow."

"Not really. It's an honest question." Aria scooted her chair closer to the vampire, desperate to keep his attention. "I think it was because you _do_ have a bit of humanity in you."

Rather than answering Damon chose to start running his hand up and down Aria's arm. He regarded her with a gaze that Aria could never hope to unravel. Was he angry at her? Surprised that she'd come to such a conclusion? Did she think she was an idiot for having hope?

Sucked for him that she knew the truth. He had a slither of humanity buried in his sarcastic depths. Aria yearned for it to be freed, yearned to be _free_ herself. If he listened to his more human thoughts, he'd realize how wrong it was to be using her like this.

It was like she was but an 8-ball to be shook and shook until she gave him an answer.

"You're very beautiful Aria."

She leveled him with a look. "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me."

"Well it was more of a segway. There's a Founder's ball being held at the end of this week. I would love for you to join me."

Aria knew well of the event Damon was speaking of, and she had _absolutely_ no interest in accompanying him. Then again… If she said no he might go after Caroline…

 _No_ , Aria hissed at herself mentally, _I'm not getting involved. I'm not going to try and help any of them._ She licked her lips before giving Damon a firm shake of her head. "No way."

"Aw come on-"

"No Damon." Aria stood suddenly and Damon pulled his hand back. "Look I put up with you asking for information and treating me like a blood bank but under _no circumstances_ will I join you at some stupid ball."

He was standing so abruptly that Aria took an unintentional step back in shock. His eyes blazed with barely-contained anger, and Aria immediately knew what he was going to do.

She held up her hands, pleading, _begging_. "Please don't force me to go, Damon. I'm sick of being compelled. I don't want to go with you. You'll tell me how to dress and act and to keep my mouth shut. You'll force me to do more things I don't want to do. I'm sick of it, I'm sick of being controlled."

Belatedly, Aria realized she was crying. Tears flowed steadily down her face and she hated that he got to see how weak she truly was. God, he hadn't even compelled her yet and she felt like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Shh," Damon soothed and pulled her against his chest. Unable to resist, Aria's cheek was placed against his shoulder and the vampire ran his fingers through her hair with a gentleness she so rarely witnessed. "If I promise not to compel you, ever again, will you join me tonight?"

"I can't trust your word."

Damon tssked and kissed the top of her head, much to Aria's distaste. "Maybe not. You _can_ trust yourself though, trust your peculiar resistance to compulsion."

"You drive a hard bargain." Aria finally managed to wrangle herself free. "But I'm still not interested. I know what you were going to do with Caroline and I'm not interested in _any_ of it."

Damon's smirk became positively suggestive. " _Any_ of it?"

"Nope."

He moved closer, so slowly that Aria was able to watch as an idea settled behind Damon's eyes. His smirk fell, but his gaze remained charming. Damon reached out and with a ginger touch he rested his fingers against her cheek. "I _really_ don't believe you."

He started drawing her closer, intent clear.

He wanted to kiss her.

Aria felt anger flare through her and she shoved him back. The vampire let her push him and Damon stumbled back a few steps from the force. "Fuck Damon!" Aria swore and found herself crying again. She _loathed_ her tears and wished they'd go away. "I'm not interested. Can't you tell?"

Damon appeared struck speechless. Aria felt a bitter sense of accomplishment at that.

As beautiful as Damon was, Aria just couldn't _feel_ that way about him. She was broken beyond repair in that sense, but at least _some_ of Damon's tricks wouldn't work on her.

"Are you gay?" Damon suddenly blurted.

Aria scoffed. "One girl turns you down and you _automatically_ assume she's homosexual. Egotistical asshole much?"

"You flatter me." He sighed as though the whole situation was a horrible burden on him. Aria supposed in his mind it probably was. A girl turning _the_ Damon Salvatore down? Unheard of! "Come onnnn, I need _someone_ to accompany me." His eyes suddenly sparked with triumph. Aria felt her stomach drop. "I suppose I could take that pretty Caroline girl, hmm?"

Damn. Aria realized she was stuck. this whole time she hadn't wanted to get involved, even if it'd meant that people would get hurt. Now here she was, Caroline's life in _her_ hands. She supposed a lot of things had been under her control since she'd come to Mystic Falls. She'd known everything after all, but at least before Damon kidnapped her she wasn't directly involved.

Now she truly was in the middle of it.

And she couldn't, in good conscience, let Caroline become another of Damon's' toys.

She knew personally how much it sucked.

"Fine." Aria relented. She was a little jarred by how pleased Damon seemed. Clearly it was all an act, right? But the vampire looked almost… genuinely happy. "Although it's really horrible that you have to threaten someone's life to get me to be your date."

"But are you really surprised?" Damon replied. He glanced out the window and then smacked his lips. "Okay I'll swing by at five to pick you up. I can't compel you to, so I'm just going to _ask you nicely_ to dress up in…" He looked her up and down. "Maybe blue. I'll bring something around."

"I'm not wearing something you pick out for me, Damon."

He pouted and looked at her with wide gunmetal eyes. "Pleassseee?" He whined, drawing the word out. She knew at any second, if he didn't get his way, he might snap her neck.

Aria was willing to take that chance though. "No."

Damon glared at her childishly. "Fine."

"Fine."

He headed to the window. "Remember. Five o'clock sharp."

"I'll be ready by five thirty."

Aria figured it was totally worth being petty to hear Damon grumble like a child who didn't get his way. She was messing with a vampire and so far he hadn't killed her.

Although she didn't doubt he'd ask for dinner right before they left.

X

Aria stood before her closet and groaned. She had nothing to wear. At least… nothing that Damon would be happy with. It's not that she wanted specifically to please Damon, but she knew there was only so much she could rebel before the vampire snapped.

Dressing how he wanted was one _small_ thing she could do to appease him. Lord knew how much trouble she'd get in tonight. Aria was never one to bend to another's whims.

She turned and something glittered at the edge of her vision. With a frown she cautiously stepped from her closet. Sure enough, on her bed was a glittering lump of midnight blue fabric.

"No way…" Aria approached it carefully and when she reached the edge of the bed she noticed the accompanying white tulip. "Damn Damon. This is borderline creepy."

She poked at the fabric first, as though to check there wasn't a snake bundled up in it. Once satisfied it wasn't booby trapped, Aria gingerly grabbed onto the fabric and held it up.

A stunning dress unfurled, tag still attached to the label, that made Aria gape in awe.

It was fucking _beautiful_ and something Aria could never _imagine_ wearing.

As the dress hung from her hands a small slip of paper fell. Aria gently placed the dress down and picked up the paper. The handwriting was an elegant scrawl in cursive that so few used in current times. "Heard your frustrations. Remember, five o'clock…" Aria read aloud. At the end of his message he added an 'xoxo'.

"Perv," Aria spat but she couldn't deny she _had_ been growing frustrated. She checked over the dress again. It wasn't what she thought Damon would pick out for her. It wasn't too short, the neckline wasn't low, over all it wasn't too revealing. Aria would undoubtedly feel comfortable in it. She'd also probably look fucking _beautiful_.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." Aria also knew she had a jacket that would go perfectly with the shining gemstones that were beaded along the neckline. She stepped over to her desk and snipped off the tag without checking the price. Damon had probably compelled someone to pay for it. Others would probably find it romantic, Aria just found it stupid.

If Damon was over one hundred years old, surely he would have a rather impressive savings.

None the less, she went ahead and put on the dress.

Aria had finished styling her hair and was putting away her straightener when the doorbell rang. She frowned, wondering who'd be ringing the door at this time.

She heard her mother call that she'd answer it. Aria let her be and moved to grab her jacket. Her hands had just grasped the pale material when her mother called. "Aria! It's for you!"

Surprised, she quickly grabbed her scarf and wrapped it around her neck. The last thing she needed was for people to see the bite marks Damon had left. "Coming!"

Before she left she also snatched her purse. Their new house was grander than their last, and there was an impressive balcony overlooking the entryway. Aria hurried to it and leant over the banister. She noticed her mother by the doorway and next to her…

Was Damon Salvatore.

"Aria," Damon greeted with a supposedly friendly grin. Aria just found it freaky. _That_ expression should never be seen on Damon's face. "You look _ravishing_."

"Damon." Aria began climbing down the stairs. "I believe it's not five yet."

Damon shrugged and acted an innocent fool. "I suppose I'm overexcited."

When Aria reached the main floor Damon was suddenly in front of her, blatantly abusing his supernatural speed. In panic, Aria glanced at her mother. Only… the elder Bailey hadn't seemed to notice. In fact, Aria's mother seemed incredibly pleased of her daughter.

"Compulsion?" Aria whisper-questioned to her date.

Damon nodded and took her hand in his. Aria rolled her eyes when he brought her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. "I am very happy you agreed to accompany me to tonight's ball."

Aria wanted to remind him that he'd threatened someone's safety to get her to go. Instead she took her hand back from his grip and handed him her jacket. As he held it for her to slide her arms into, she kept his gaze. "Got tired of climbing through my window?"

"No I could never tire of that." Damon aimed a glance at Aria's mother. "I just very much wanted to introduce myself to your mother. She has a right to know you'll be draped on my arm all night."

Aria's mother smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Damon."

Aria scoffed and tugged on the collar of her jacket to straighten it. Damon waited by her side like a gentlemen. Aria was sceptical of his act. There was no reason for him to act so… nice. He must have been planning _something_. "Yeah, you're real _considerate..._ I know consent really means a lot to you."

Damon laughed off her jab and bowed towards Aria's mom. "If it's all the same to you, I'll be heading off with your lovely daughter now."

"Go right ahead." Damon lead Aria through the door and she quickly spotted his car right outside her driveway. "Have fun you two!"

They walked briskly once free of the house. Damon set a fierce pace but Aria kept up easily. He opened the door for her, but Aria wasn't humbled by his action.

"I see you wore the dress."

Aria clasped her hands in her lap. Damon's car had a peculiar chill to it. "Only because I had nothing else to wear."

"Don't lie. You love it."

She allowed herself a tiny smile. "Alright. Maybe I do."

"I knew you would." Damon's mouth quirked and Aria figured that was the default set of his face. Smug and arrogant. "I have a very good sense of style," his cerulean gaze flickered to her. "Sense of _taste_."

"Can we not talk about blood preferences? Ew." Aria played with the clasp of her purse. There were too many unsafe topics with a vampire around. She felt like every little thing could lead back to the fact he wasn't all-human. Like a really _massive_ inside joke.

"Well I mean… your's isn't exactly the _best_ I've ever tasted, but it's definitely towards the higher end of the scale. It's a bit tangy but also has a nice kick to it."

Aria had to chuckle at the way he was describing her blood. Almost as though he was in the middle of a wine tasting. She immediately quietened though when she noticed the pleased look on her date's face.

 _Damn him_.

"Are you going to introduce me to your brother?"

He snorted derisively. "Duh. _And_ his dense little girlfriend."

"I'd really rather you didn't."

"But you're my girl! My pal! My one and only B-F-F. They just _have_ to meet you."

"They'll know immediately you're using me as a blood bag and then think you're still the 'bad guy Damon' who'll go on random murder sprees." Aria couldn't help but feel smug as Damon's amusement was scared away. " _Then_ they'll fill you with vervain and lock you up."

Damon considered her words. "They would've done that anyway."

"Stefan already tried, right?"

"You knew. Of course you knew. Didn't want to warn me?"

Aria hummed non-committedly.

"Either way, my point is that you aren't getting out of this ball little missy, and that's final."

Favoring being petty, Aria grumbled and stared out the window. She'd ignore Damon the whole trip to the mansion. Aria was done putting up with his attitude.

Unfortunately the drive wasn't as long as she'd hoped, so her phase was cut short. She had to suck it up as Damon raced round and opened the door for her. He offered his hand. Aria looked at it as though it personally insulted her.

"Please?" Damon asked, gaze genuine in its request.

Reluctantly, she accepted the offending hand. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"It gives me great personal pleasure to aggravate you."

"Oh ha ha. You're just going to be the _life of the party_ , aren't you?"

"We'll see," Aria answered him drily as they lined up to enter the mansion.

She noticed Mrs. Lockwood when they reached the door. Aria's mother had kept to her habit of having friends over for lunch. Mrs. Lockwood just happened to be one of those friends. "Aria! Oh honey you look absolutely _devastating_."

"Thanks." Aria tugged Damon forward. Anything to get the ladies attention off of her. "This is Damon, by the way."

"Oh! Well come on in," she invited.

Convenient invitation to a vampire. Damon schooled his most charming demeanor. "Lovely to meet you. I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while."

Aria didn't doubt that. Especially since once he got the gem he would be one step closer to freeing his precious Katherine. She still didn't understand why he wouldn't believe her. Probably was too lovestruck to consider _maybe_ their 'true love' was one sided.

Once again Aria reminded herself not to get too involved. Let Damon do what he wants.

"Well, enjoy."

Damon gave her a parting nod before directing Aria inside. "Let's get a drink."

"I don't much fancy alcohol."

He scoffed. "Of course you don't. We'll get you a plastic cup of apple juice then?"

"Water will be fine." Aria couldn't help but mess with Damon.

He seemed to catch onto what she was doing though. When they made it to the bar he held the bartender's gaze firmly. "I'll have a fifth of whiskey. A bottle of water for the lady."

"And a cup of ice!" Aria added hurriedly.

Damon relayed her addition then turned and leant back against the bar. Aria copied his movements and faced the growing crowd. She spotted her mother and father entering. Surprise marred her features. Her father never came to social gatherings.

"Here," Damon said, interrupting her train of thought. She took the bottle of water and the glass of ice, pouring one into the other. Damon clinked their glasses when they were done. "Spotted anyone you know?"

"My parents," she gestured with her right hand. "And a few kids from school."

"Any friends?"

"Don't really have any of those."

Damon appeared surprised. "Really? With your dry humor I'd have thought you'd have an army of minions at your disposal."

"Not interested." Aria took a sip of her drink. "Besides, they could end up to be like you."

"Oh of course, you wouldn't want to risk that."

They grew silent, each enjoying the company of their respective drinks. Suddenly Damon straightened. He seemed to focus intently on something before downing the last of his whiskey and placing it back on the bar. He turned to her with a scheming expression.

"What now?" Aria asked. She had to admit, spending so much time with Damon was making her gradually start sounding like a tired and overworked nanny.

"Stefan and Elena are _bonding_. We're going to interrupt."

Aria knew this moment too well. "Let me guess, you want me to take your brother aside for a dance?"

Damon grinned. "Precisely!"

"No."

"Aww come on," the vampire pouted. "What if I promise _you_ a dance?"

Aria had to admit, a dance with Damon _did_ sound fun. She wasn't prideful enough to lie and say she'd rather choke on a walnut. Though, his offer still wasn't enough. "You'll have to do better than that."

"Okay… What about if I promise to drink from _actual_ blood bags from now on?"

"Pfft. You'll probably still steal a snack from me time to time."

Damon huffed. "You _do_ know me too well."

"That would be nice though." Aria didn't like being drunk from anymore than the next person. One little dance in exchange for semi-freedom from that? Except… "Why the sudden change? I thought you liked 'fresh blood'."

"Yes _and_ I like causing people pain," Damon added scornfully. "How about you try not questioning my motives for once and just… go with the flow?"

"If I did that I would have died long ago."

He nodded. "Fair enough. So do we have a deal?"

Aria _really_ didn't trust his word, but his offer was too hard to resist. "Alright."

"Great! Now play along."

"Got it, sir!" She gave him a fake salute and put aside her drink.

It didn't take long for them to approach who Aria easily recognized as Stefan and Elena. They'd met briefly at school and of course, Aria had seen them in 1080p on her other self's flatscreen. It was almost like a sense of deja vu as she watched Elena read the list. "...Look at all these familiar names—" She caught the girl saying. "Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?"

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually." Damon tugged Aria along like a puppy on a leash. She didn't miss the way Stefan regarded her before addressing his brother. He definitely suspected _something_.

She was actually kind of proud of him. Least he'd learnt not to trust Damon in the hundred years he'd lived.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past."

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

Aria had to admit, seeing Elena so desperately prompting Stefan for more information was kind of sad. "I don't," Aria cut in bluntly. She turned to Stefan. "Damon doesn't want to dance with me-"

"Mm-Mmm," the older Salvatore agreed.

"-So do you mind Stefan? I'd love to dance, and I won't take no for an answer."

Stefan tried to brush her off. "I don't really dance..

Damon scoffed. "Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

Aria turned to the girl by Stefan's side. "You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?"

"It's up to Stefan."

"Then it's settled." Aria grabbed Stefan's hand and started leading him away. "Don't be scared Stef, there are worse things in life. Trust me." _Like being held captive by a vampire_.

They started dancing, but it was clear Stefan was uncomfortable. He let Aria lead, but it wasn't any fun. He hadn't paid any attention to the steps and Aria was sure he was trying to listen in on Damon and Elena. Not only though, but he clearly wanted to try and get information from her. He just wasn't sure how to go about it.

Eventually she grew sick of his silence. "Just spit it out already."

"Damon told you to ask me to dance. Didn't he?"

"Now why would he do that?" Aria responded, feigning innocence. Again, she reminded herself not to stir up any trouble.

It was just her luck a waiter passed with a tray of champagne.

 _Oh no_.

"Would you like one?" Stefan grabbed two glasses and thanked the waiter. Aria knew that he'd spiked her drink with vervain, but for the life of her she didn't see him do it.

Now she was left with a really inconvenient choice. Accept the drink and chance poisoning Damon? Or…

"I'm sorry, but I don't drink."

Aria saw Stefan _visibly_ deflate. "Oh." Aria realized with a sense of shocked disappointment as Stefan's pupils narrowed. He was trying to compel her. _Asshole_. "I insist."

Aria found herself desperately wanting the drink in Stefan's hand. At the back of her mind though, she felt an overwhelming sense of _reason_. She clung to it like always. It gave her enough space to _think_. Not wanting to give away her secret talent, Aria took the drink.

She didn't sip it though… not yet.

She still had time to decide.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._


	5. Chapter 5

Holy crap u guys are blowing up my email with all your support I seriously am just so happy I don't even know how to thank you guys, hopefully a new chapter will do? {I just saw 5x13 and IM DYING HELP MY POOR SUNSHINE CHILD}

* * *

Damon eventually returned with Elena at his side. "What'd we miss?"

"We were just chatting. Drink, Damon?" Aria nearly laughed at Stefan's offer.

"No, thanks, I'll pass."

Elena turned to her vampire boyfriend. "Stefan, do you have another dance in you?"

Stefan smiled. "Absolutely."

Aria settled back near Damon and watched the couple take to the dance floor. At least Elena didn't have as much of a hard time getting Stefan to dance with her.

She couldn't help but admit to Damon, "They're ridiculously adorable, aren't they?"

He groaned. "Don't talk, please."

"Really Damon? Come on. Stop getting so hung up over Katherine. There's plenty of other fish in the sea." Aria wanted so deeply to just slap some sense into Damon. She knew that'd probably be one of the worst ways to go about it though.

"Are you offering?"

He pressed closer to her, eyes dark with intent. Aria _barely_ resisted the urge to slap him. "How about instead of _this_ we go get that amulet you've been waiting to get for years?"

" _Fineeee_ ," Damon brushed back a stray strand of Aria's hair with a soft touch. "You know I'm starting to realize how good of a partner in crime you are."

"As long as you don't get me caught."

"I can't promise you anything." Damon headed for the heritage display and Aria followed him despite the chance of being caught. When they passed through the doorway Damon positioned her just so. "Okay, just a minute. Stand right... there."

He turned and started searching through the collection.

"Trying so hard to steal gems, you better be careful or someone might realize you're The Phantom after the Pink Panther." Aria crossed her arms and leant against the wooden frame. She doubted anyone would pass by, but she figured if they did Damon would just compel them away.

As Damon searched Aria considered the drink in her hand. Even if she didn't drink it, she was sure Stefan would find another way to poison Damon.

"Damon?"

Something crashed nearby. Aria hoped it wasn't anything valuable. "Just a sec."

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Wait…" There was a clatter and then Damon's head popped up. "Aha!" He held the crystal up triumphantly. "Got it."

Aria tapped her foot impatiently. "Okay. Now, serious talk."

"Oh no… are you breaking up with me?"

She ignored his joke. "Stefan gave me this drink of champagne."

"Yes and I'm sure you'll treasure it for the rest of your days."

"Would you shut up?" Aria huffed and stared at the pale liquid. "He's spiked it with vervain."

Damon's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "Well I can't say I'm surprised… He must've deduced I was feeding off of you. Nasty business. You haven't drunk any of it, right?"

"No, but I think I should."

"What…?"

"Hear me out okay? He's going to keep trying to incapacitate you even if he fails tonight. Why not just give him what he wants? I'll break you out of wherever he locks you up."

Damon paused. "You know how this ends, don't you?"

"I do."

"Are you going to do something about it?"

"Maybe." Aria sighed. It would be too easy to interfere. She just wanted to stay out of it though. The choice was being taken out of her hands though. Damon _friggin'_ Salvatore was standing right in front of her, it's not like she could tell him no.

He'd probably rip her head off, or worse, take her as a prisoner again. "Let me think for a bit."

"Alright."

Aria shut her eyes and let her mind drift. She allowed herself to travel, trusting that Damon wouldn't hurt her when she wasn't in her own mind. When she opened her eyes again she was back in her other room. She quickly pulled over her laptop and opened it. Once logged in, Aria opened up the 'Vampire Diaries' wiki page.

If she had a cheat code to real life, why wouldn't she use it? It didn't take long for her to go over a few facts she'd forgotten and once she was done Aria quickly returned to her other existence.

Damon's face was _way_ too close. "Jeez you totally spaced out on me. I thought you didn't drink any alcohol?"

"Shush." Aria brushed the vampire aside to go and place her drink down. There was a plan forming in her head. It wasn't perfect, but it maybe wouldn't end in Damon going on a murderous rampage. "Okay give me your ring."

"What?"

"Your magical daylight protection ring. Hand it over."

Damon's expression turned utterly deadly. "Excuse me?"

"Stefan would have taken it from you anyway."

His eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You're _not_ -"

"I am. You're going to give me your ring, and then you're going to drink that champagne."

Damon was instantly upon her, slamming her into the hallway wall with incredible force. So intensely she worried her skull might crack. "You don't _get_ to order me around, and you certainly don't tell me to drink _vervain_."

Aria gasped as his forearm cut off her airway, pressing against her trachea with a hold tighter than a noose. Blood rushed to her head, a loud roaring in her ears.

She quickly deduced that she'd have to tell Damon the _whole plan_.

Aria just hoped Stefan wasn't listening in.

X

When Damon had decided to have some fun with Aria- namely kill her and maybe have a few bites to eat whilst he was at it- he'd never expected her to start blabbing nonsense about Katherine and Stefan and 'his future'. Although the opportunity for a one up on his brother was hard to miss. Who was Damon to define the limits of the supernatural world? For all he knew Aria might've really had visions.

Then he'd started his game. It had been fun. Drinking from her, hurting her, finding easy ways to make her talk. She was his most interesting little human pet yet, and he was loathsome to let her go. Only, when it turned out she had been telling the truth and thus actually knew the future… Aria had only become even more interesting to Damon.

His tactic had switched. Why not try to make his new pet truly his rather than simple parlor tricks like holding her against her will or compelling her? Not only would she give him information more willingly, he might stand a chance at finding Katherine quicker.

Only… Aria seemed to think Katherine wasn't _in_ the tomb.

For the most part Damon tried not to consider that.

It was a fascinating change to have a human know all about his creature of the night status _and_ also realize he was a scheming asshole. Damon felt he didn't need to hide around her. She had this peculiar ability to see through his bullshit and to top it off she'd joined him in his dickery.

One of the best things about having her in his pocket was definitely her future know-how. With it Damon was sure he could conquer the world if he wanted. What he really wanted though was to get his brother off his ass.

So when Aria told him about Stefan's newest attempt to drug him, he was pretty damn annoyed. Except, thanks to his amazing charm, he'd managed to persuade Aria to help him out. She came up with a plan, not as good as a Damon-trademarked plan, but a plan none the less.

The only plan they had.

Damon agreed to it somewhat hesitantly. He knew she had brains, but if she could really pull this off and get him out of Stefan's line of fire than he might even be tempted to thank the tiny human.

He grabbed the glass of champagne before taking Aria's slender hand in his. It was convenient his new pet didn't look entirely awful. It meant he wasn't entirely opposed to her joining him for the ball. Damon had a certain reputation to uphold after all.

"Before we get this show on the road. How about a dance?"

His sweet little homo-sapien blinked, thick lashes fluttering as her ochre eyes sparked with something indecipherable. That was another thing, too. Damon was positively allured by her mysterious aura. There was definitely more to Aria Bailey than he'd ever manage to figure out on his own.

He was close though. Every moment he was getting closer to understanding all her expressions and reactions. For instance, it was almost too obvious she was terrified and overly cautious of him. Damon had to commend the girl for not being an idiot.

Now though she seemed a little excited. Damon could hear her heartbeat pick up pace ever so marginally. It was a reassuring sound and he offered his free hand.

Aria eyed it warily, as she was prone to do. "I don't know Damon… You're probably just going to piss Stefan off even more."

"You think he'll be jealous of us?" Damon drifted closer. He saw an opportunity and he took it. What kind of man was he if he hadn't? "You and I, dancing as one. It'll be beautiful Aria. No one would dare to be jealous of that."

He yearned to draw her closer and feel her heat flush against him. Hear her pulse and feel her heartbeat against his skin. He held himself back though. With his favorite toys, he always tried for restraint. "It won't go down well… but I suppose you deserve a moment of fun before you-"

"Shh." Damon couldn't resist himself. He pressed his finger against her plump pink lips to silence her. Her eyes heated in revolt, but she didn't brush his hand aside. _Good_ , Damon thought, _progress_. "Let's dance."

Aria looked at him like he was a child, but Damon had spent enough time with her to notice the small glint of amusement in her gaze. He was cracking through her shell one carefully worded jab at a time. "Careful with that drink."

Damon smirked. "No problem."

The slow notes of guitar strummed as they emerged. Colbie Caillat's 'Fallin' For You' started almost as though it were fated. "Perfect!" Damon exclaimed as they weaved through the crowd to find space.

Aria mumbled an obscenity under her breath that Damon easily caught. He sent her a smug grin and she groaned. "Yeah you smile now pretty boy but you're not gonna' be happy when I out-dance you."

Damon was momentarily stunned by her taunt. He wouldn't have expected that from her. It was almost… friendly. Two mates bickering. He brushed those thoughts aside and focused. "The girl thinks she has moves. How are you going to back it up little miss?"

"You sure you can keep that drink safe _and_ keep up with me?"

He was positively amazed. She'd gone from this over-cautious, calculating girl to a spirited minx. Damon was overly invigorated by the fire burning in Aria's gaze. Sure, there'd been a few times he'd seen _something_ fizzle in her ochre eyes, but it'd never burned _this_ bright. Never had she sent a thrill quite like this through his chest.

"We'll see."

Damon held the glass out to the side and offered his hand. Aria took it and slowly they began circling each other. The beat was slow and sweet, both of which Damon hadn't been comfortable with in a long time. With this incredible creature by his side though, Damon would be willing to face the world.

Aria seemed confident enough for the both of them. She started swinging her hips and turning from side to side, holding his hand and then spinning in. Her back pressed against him, and she moved softly against him. There was no heat, no sexy allure that other women relied on when in his presence, but Damon was dazzled none the less.

She twirled back out and let go of his hand, turning her back to him again and raising her arms in the air. "C'mon Damon! You're letting all the opportunity for dickery be wasted!" Aria methodically stepped backwards towards him, and when they bumped into each other Damon caught on.

He grabbed her around the waist and leant over her, tilting her back so all her weight rested in his one arm. Then, he pulled her back upright and spun her out. Damon gaped openly when Aria laughed. It was a sound he'd never been witness too.

The music faded to the background, Damon's surroundings blurred. Aria was smiling slightly at him. The smallest peek of pearlescent white behind her lush lips. She was absolutely stunning, hair almost glowing under the overhanging lanterns. Sun streaks standing out in the most perfect way. He wished desperately that at some point she'd become naked when he'd had her trapped. If only he'd ripped her clothes off one single time when he'd fed on her…

He was sure she had a gorgeous body, and the way she _moved_ against him, he could only _imagine_ -

"What's our big finale?" Aria asked, a little breathless from all her moves. She was still swaying her hips back and forth to the music Damon wasn't really paying attention to anymore.

"This," Damon said and then hauled her close. Aria gasped in surprise and Damon quickly sunk his fangs into her neck. He made sure to hide was he was truly doing behind her long flowing locks, but it was undeniable that Stefan would be watching, would know right away what he was up to. He drunk half-heartedly, not all that hungry.

Thankfully when he pulled back Aria wasn't the slightest bit pale.

 _Bravo for your restraint Damon,_ he mentally patted himself on the back. He could have stolen a kiss or given into the intense predatory desire to drink her dry. He didn't though. Despite what his brother believed, Damon _did_ have some **semblance** of control. More than most other vampires for sure.

"That wasn't part of the plan."

Aria spoke with a quiet kind of anger, she wasn't surprised but Damon could easily pick up on the fact she wasn't _overly_ enthusiastic about him drinking from her in the middle of a party.

Damon shrugged, completely unsympathetic. He'd rather fear for the upcoming events than care about her whining. It was a better direction to aim his thoughts. He took one last look at Aria under the lights, skin flushed from dancing and eyes fiery in their annoyance, before hauling her onwards. "Let's get this over with."

"Don't fuck it up," Aria spat.

"Funny." Damon turned mid step. "I should be telling _you_ that."

Aria followed him fearlessly through the dark and into the wood-like backyard. Damon had to admit to admiring her bravery. Normally he'd just consider such a girl stupid, but he knew Aria was far from that. He headed deep into the shadows before turning to Aria.

He drew a deep breath of fresh air before leaning forward to whisper in Aria's ear. As he did, he slid his ring off and placed it in her open palm, a secret exchange in the dead of night. It felt like handing over one of his most valuable weapons, but it was better in her hands than his brother's. Damon realized absently that he was _trusting_ her.

"Ready?" He asked, lips brushing against her ear.

"Ready."

Damon nodded and tilted his glass towards her in a toast. "Bottoms up," he proclaimed before chugging the glass.

He had barely swallowed a single sip before his world blacked out from pain.

Distantly, he felt something being taken from him and belatedly realized that Aria had taken his amulet. That _wasn't_ part of the plan.

What the hell was she up to?

Too bad he wouldn't find out anytime soon.

X

X

Aria went home that night and wondered how a week of freedom would feel. A week without Damon at her back bugging her constantly, or trying out his new schemes on her. Though she couldn't help but feel a little guilty about the memory of him, writhing on the ground as the vervain flooded his system.

Her guilt only doubled when she remembered where Stefan would throw him and lock away the key. It was almost a sadistic mirror to her previous situation. A part of her felt a little gleeful at that idea. Served him right for treating her like crap, but in truth, she mostly just wanted to go and help him escape right then. She knew firsthand how awful it was to be stuck in an enclosed space with no exit.

She also knew that Damon really didn't deserve to be locked up. Sure, he'd done a crapload of bad things, but he was trying to cut back. It was almost like he was fighting an addiction to murder. Aria realized she didn't mind the fact he drank blood from innocent people, as long as he didn't kill them in the process.

God, she was going mad! It must've been Stockholm Syndrome or something...

As she settled into bed, she told herself that he'd be okay and hoped for it to be true.

He was Damon Salvatore after all. If anyone was stubborn enough to survive a week locked up it would be him.

X

Aria lounged in the sun and enjoyed the sound of the running waterfall nearby. It was a tiny one that flowed into a fake pond, but it was calming none the less. She turned the page of her book only to feel a pinprick of annoyance at the back of her mind.

She had to go.

She squeezed her eyes shut and let her mind wander.

"Aria!" She heard her name being shouted. Her mother no doubt. She quickly pulled on a sweater and raced to the balcony. The floor was cold beneath her bare feet but the chill helped her focus and reacclimatise to her body.

"Yes, mom?"

"I'm heading out. Left overs are in the fridge. Don't forget to remind your dad about dinner with the Lockwood's tomorrow night."

Aria froze. "Pardon?"

"I haven't told you yet? Well yes darling dinner tomorrow night at seven. be ready by six."

No, no, no! Aria felt like her world was crumbling. The last thing she needed was to meet more of the 'Vampire Diaries' characters. Sure, she'd stopped by the Founder's Ball but it wasn't like she had to talk to any of them.

Dinner meant small chat, interaction, getting to know one another.

How the fuck was she going to get out of it?

X

Admittedly it didn't take as much effort as she'd originally thought to get out of the dinner. It had taken a fib about an assignment and a promise to do a few chores too. In the end her mother relented, but Aria knew it was just the beginning.

This wouldn't be the only event she'd have to get out of.

It was almost as though fate itself even wanted her to put her ass in the line of fire.

She groaned and wished that her life was simpler.

X

On Monday morning Aria returned to school and much to her annoyance, Tyler Lockwood was leaning against her locker. So much for avoiding him.

"Why'd you skip last night?"

Aria flicked her hand, gesturing for him to move over. He slid along and she started unlocking her locker. Maybe if she just ignored him he'd go away. Not only was Tyler one of the main characters of the show, but he also was a massive douche that Aria wanted nothing to do with.

"Your mother is crazy," Tyler continued without prompt.

She flung her locker open, blocking her view of Tyler. He simply peeked around with a pissed expression. "Are you ignoring me?" 

"Obviously."

He huffed. "Well alright then. I guess I'll leave you alone."

"Finally," Aria muttered. She didn't exactly like being rude, but she just couldn't deal with more trouble in her life. Damon was almost too much to handle on his own.

Tyler stalked off, uttering a quite 'bitch' under his breath.

Aria sighed when she heard it. Maybe she'd been a little too cruel. Oh well.

X

Wednesday finally came around and Aria knew it was time to move onto the next part of the plan. She told her mom she had a free period first so she could go in late to school and then retreated back into her room to get ready. She'd need a few things before she could get going.

Firstly she grabbed Damon's ring and the amulet she'd snatched from his writhing, vervain-filled body. Both of which she stuffed into her pockets. Then she pulled on a non-descript hoodie of a dull blue color. Once she was all geared up she grabbed her car keys and headed off.

Just in case, she switched on the nav-system when she slid into the driver's seat. It'd really suck to get lost in such a small town. As she drove Aria kept glancing at the amulet glinting in the drink holder. Did she really want to give it back to him?

It was pretty much pointless in the grand scheme of things. She should just throw it in a volcano.

Again she had to remind herself not to interfere. If Damon wanted to a stubborn moron than Aria wasn't about to stop him. Although… she was pleased that he hadn't killed as many people in her reality than he did in the show. Mostly because he was feeding off of her… but still.

It meant he had restraint, even this early on.

And maybe, just maybe, Aria wanted to allow a bit of hope to flow through her.

She wouldn't though. If she hoped, she'd become biased, weak. That was the last thing she needed. Way down on the list right after talking to Tyler ever again.

When she pulled up to the boarding house Aria suffered a really bad case of deja vu. It was tough seeing the old home. It reminded Aria about how fucked up her world was now, she lived in the setting of 'Vampire Diaries' for Christ's sake! She tapped the steering wheel, drumming her fingers as she hesitated.

This was going to be hard… and dangerous.

In there, Aria reminded herself, was a vampire starved of blood. Damon could and would drink her dry at any chance. She just hoped desperately he'd find a reason to hold himself back. Sure, she knew he had pretty good control compared to others of his… species, but Damon was still a vampire. There was only so far his control could take him.

That's why Aria had made sure to grab a branch and she'd sharpened it in her spare time. She probably wouldn't get a chance to use it, being but a slow human and all. It gave her courage though, and that was all she needed to leave the shelter of her car.

"Why the hell am I doing this?" Aria asked herself for the dozenth time. "Oh right. Because if I don't, when Damon gets free he's going to snap my parents neck, and then mine as well."

She huffed as she stepped up to the large doors of the Salvatore boarding house. Aria took a long, calming breath, before wrapping on the door with her knuckles.

Here we go, Aria thought.

When the door swung open Aria plastered on a concerned and utterly innocent expression. "Hi I'm so sorry to bother you, but my cat's gone missing and I was wondering if I could check around your house for her? Maybe in your backyard?"

The man she easily recognized as Zach gave her a small smile. "Sure, come on in. I'll take you through to the back."

Well she hadn't expected that to work so well. Aria stepped inside, though she noticed that Zach took extra notice of the fact. She supposed it was good habit to check for vampire visitors. She followed him through the house, taking note of the basement stairway and the kitchen. She'd spent a lot of time researching the layout of the boarding house those past few days.

Zach threw the back door open and stepped out. "So when did she go missing?" He asked.

"Sunday. Been looking since yesterday. Hasn't turned up anything yet." Aria wandered outside and took in their property. "Wow this might take a while to search."

Zach laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah I guess so."

Aria's face fell in disappointment, and she mustered as much worry into her gaze as possible.

Zach caught on immediately. "Oh don't worry, I'd be happy to help."

"Really?" Aria brightened. It was almost too easy to manipulate the man.

He nodded and pointed to a bushy area a few feet away. "I'll check over there first, how about you look around the trees over there."

Aria nodded and started walking away. She continued to glance over her shoulder, and when Zach was well within the bushes, she quickly dashed into the boarding house as subtly as she could. She slowly shut and locked the door. Hopefully that would add to her time. She then raced into the kitchen.

Her trick wouldn't buy her much time. She flung the fridge door open and was pleased to spot about a dozen bottles filled with blood. Animal blood, no doubt. Aria was pretty sure the house wouldn't be stocked with human blood yet, so it would have to do.

She then hurried into the hallway and took the stairs two at a time.

It took a little while to find the secret passage to the cell they were keeping Damon in. When she finally did, Aria froze. She'd done it. She'd gotten in and was now about to break Damon out. Fuck, what the hell was she doing?

Too late now, she supposed, and approached the cell door with soft, delicate steps.

"Damon?" She questioned to the shadows. It was way too dark inside the cell, but she could just barely make out a figure leaning against the wall. "You there my starved vampire buddy?"

There was a lazy sound of annoyance. Aria guessed she'd found the right cell.

"I brought you food. Be quick." She shoved and armful of blood bottles through the gaps in the peephole. Aria heard as they landed on the floor with a thud. Damon didn't make a move to get them. "Oh come on, now's not the time to be picky. I'm sorry they're animal blood but it wasn't like I could rob a blood bank. You can do that yourself, once you've drunk your fill."

"You're not going to offer me a snack?" Damon rasped.

"No way, you'd drink me dry."

He scoffed. She heard as gravel crunched underneath him and slowly the sound of movement carried towards the door. Eventually she heard the crackle of plastic being squeezed, and she stepped back from the door when she heard the noises that followed.

Gross freaky blood slurping? No thanks.

It took a long minute for Damon to finish the first bottle, and it wasn't for another two until he moved onto the second. "Hurry it up," Aria urged only to get a hiss in response. "Real mature."

"I can only drink this crap so fast. If you want me to hurry up offer me something sweeter."

"Nope. Suck it up."

"Haha, very funny." Damon's dry response carried through the door. "You know I had a lot of time to think whilst I was wilting away in here."

"Less talking, more drinking."

Damon carried on as though she hadn't interrupted. "I thought mostly about you actually. You with your incredibly helpful visions and your incredible efforts to avoid my brother and his new girlfriend. Not to mention that fact you seem to be partially immune to compulsion."

"Maybe you're just losing your touch. You know what'd help? If you stopped talking and finish the rest of your meal."

There was silence for a while after her comment that was only filled later by the sound of a new bottle being opened. He must've drunk that one faster because another was being opened only a few seconds later. At that rate he'd get through all the bottles she'd grabbed in record time and maybe they'd be quicker than Zach.

He must've gone through another three more bottles before he spoke up again. "You know what I've come to realise? About you and your oddness?"

There was a crunch, the sound of Damon squashing a bottle, probably with his bare hands. "What?" Aria found herself asking.

Suddenly Damon's face filled her view. He pressed his face into the bars, nose peeking out between the two metal rods. "I actually kind of enjoy your company."

"Thanks?"

She watched as Damon leaned back and took a long chug of what she assumed was his last bottle of blood. When he let go, mouth unsticking with a wet pop, blood dribbled from his mouth. Aria thought she should be horrified, but really she just wished she had a kleenex so she could wipe it off. "No seriously. I find myself not wanting to kill you anymore."

"I think it's just your anemia talking Damon."

"Hah!" Damon knocked back the last of his drink before throwing the bottle away into the darkness. He turned back and pointed at Aria. "See, you're funny. Now let me out."

"Not yet."

Damon tilted his head, eyes glancing upwards. "Zach's gonna be here any minute~" He sang tauntingly. There was a new fire to his eyes that Aria was somewhat confused by.

She brushed her worry away, it was probably bloodlust or something. "Not until I know you're going to stick to the plan."

"I've had enough blood, for now, I'll get more from a hospital in Richmond later. Just like you said. I won't bite."

"You're not going to run off and go on a murder spree?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "No moooom." He smirked and wiggled his finger at her. "Come on Aria, time's a wastin'!"

"Alright. I don't trust your word, but I trust that you want your ring back-"

"And my brother's love and trust, I get it Aria. Chop, chop."

Aria didn't move.

Damon groaned and danced impatiently on the spot. "I knowwww okay! I won't fuck this up because there's too much at stake and despite what you may believe I am not an idiot."

She watched him for a long moment, and flinched when she heard the basement door slam open. To hell with it, she thought and pulled back the bolt.

The door flung open before she could react, and a second later Damon was blocking her exit, back to her, front facing the passage at which Zach would soon enter through.

Aria felt a spike of unease when Zach stopped in front of them. He seemed too shocked by Damon's freedom to react right away. Damon took advantage of his lapse and darted forward before Aria had a chance to second guess her choice.

Damon slammed Zach against the wall and Aria cringed at which the force shook the enclosed space. The vampire leaned deeply into Zach's personally space, holding his 'uncle's' gaze in an incredibly intense fashion. "Don't be scared. I'm not going to kill you."

Faster than Aria's eyes could track, Damon sunk his fangs into Zach's neck. He took a long, greedy pull and Aria mentally rolled her eyes. Of course he'd do this.

She just hoped he'd stop.

It was a close call, Aria could practically feel the two warring energies of Damon. See the two sides push and shove to gain dominance over the other. Eventually Damon's rational side won out, and he pulled back almost as though mourning the loss of Zach's steady blood supply.

The man was a little pale, but Aria did have to commend Damon for his restraint. Zach was still conscious enough to be useful. "Proud of you."

It kind of shocked her how little she cared that he'd nearly ended Zach's life. Maybe it was because she saw through Damon's killer habits and knew that deep down he wasn't inherently evil, or maybe she'd just spent too much time with the vamp.

"It means the world," Damon assured. Aria gave a small grin at his response before growing serious as Damon focused intently on Zach. "You're going to call Stefan," Damon began to intone heavily. Aria felt a little weird being the third wheel. Compulsion was way too creepy to witness up close and personal.

"You're going to ask for help and tell him you're in the woods by the north waterfall." Damon pried his hands off of Zach and the man's feet touched the ground again. "Then you're going to pack your things and get the hell away from Mystic Falls. I never want to see your face again."

Zach continued to stare at Damon, entranced.

The vampire's eyes narrowed and he shoved Zach towards the exit. "Go."

The man scampered off like a dog with it's tail tucked between it's legs. When Damon turned back around to Aria, his eyes were surrounded by bulging black veins, and his mouth was propped open by frightening fangs. Aria sucked in a sharp breath, but not because she was scared. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

"I didn't tell you before, what with the whole kidnapping and blood sucking thing, but your fangs are pretty damn cool."

Damon's mouth twitched in amusement. Aria watched as he shut his eyes and slowly the veins receded, and his fangs faded back to his normal perfect, pearly whites. Aria had to admire the amount of self-control it must take to be able to do that. He smiled and nodded his head. "Thanks, that's actually really flattering coming from you."

"From me?"

His grin turned predatory. "Well you are my new favorite human, after all."

"You're such a creep." Aria shoved past him and couldn't help but feel a little freaked out. Sure she knew exactly what Damon thought of her, but it didn't make that easier to hear him say it to her face. "Let's just get this over with."

Something snatched around her elbow and she found herself being turned around. Her gaze met with Damon's cerulean orbs which were filled with a dark emotion Aria was stunned by. He pressed tightly into her personal space and she felt her knees lock up in fear.

"You know I think I'm kind of bored of this. It'd actually be more fun to be able to see the fear in your eyes," Damon's pupils thinned into pinpricks and Aria felt like a dam burst inside her. A month's worth of pent up fear and horror broke free and she collapsed to her knees, struggling to find her breath. It was awful, a horribly feeling of utter terror crawled up her spine and shocked her still. "Now this is much more fun." He tilted her chin upwards, gunmetal eyes glinting in mirth.

Aria clamped her mouth shut and held back tears. She wanted desperately for Damon to make all the fear and pain go away, but she definitely did not want to be compelled all over again.

She breathed in rapidly through her nose as her heart raced. In, out. In, out. Damon chuckled and turned her head left and right. "Oh this is just perfect. Now I'm enjoying myself again."

"You're an asshole," Aria spat with as much hatred as she could muster. Deep down though, the truth was that she couldn't find it in her to truly hate him. Damn it, he's managed to get under her skin, pick away at her stone-cold reasoning.

Damon let go of her and stepped back. He held out his hand impatiently. "Yeah what else is new? Now give me my ring. I've got a celebrity to turn and a brother to save, on top of all that I'm pretty sure you won't be helping me out."

"And whose fault is that?" Aria snatched Damon's hand and the vampire waited patiently as she slid on the daylight ring. She shoved it on roughly and then let go the instant she was done.

Damon smirked and twisted his ring, looking down at it as though transfixed by the piece of jewelry. Then again… Aria wasn't surprised. Damon was renowned to be struck stupid by pretty things. *Cough* Katherine *cough*.

"Get along with your freakish addiction to dickery and alcohol then, Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Only for you Elizabeth," Damon bowed lowly before prancing off towards the exit.

Aria let her body sag as soon as he was out of sight. What an asshole, she thought finally and shut her eyes. If she was stuck with the aftermath of an anxiety attack all on her lonesome than she'd spend the time in her other world stuffing her face with ice cream.

Maybe some cookies too.

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._


	6. Chapter 6

This chapter is _way_ over my usual word count of 5k. Hope you guys enjoy :)

* * *

Aria made it home eventually. She'd spent a long few hours in her other self trying to calm down. Her overall experience with being compelled? It sucked. Majorly. She hoped it'd never happen again, but with her recent luck that was doubtful.

She took a long shower and tried to wash away all of the anger she felt towards Damon, all of the fear she now experienced when she thought of him. Her life would be so much simpler if he wasn't in it. It wasn't much of a surprise when she felt tears well in her eyes. Her mind was in a constant loop, hate, fear, depression. She was just so _sick_ of her messed up life.

In the privacy of the shower, droplets of water masking her tears, Aria let herself breakdown into heavy sobs. It helped her to let go of some of her more potent feelings and she shut off the water eventually with a tired yawn.

Some sleep would do her good, she decided and wrapped herself up in the fluffiest towel.

When she stepped back into her room, she nearly fell on her ass in surprise. Which would have sucked, seeing as she was in a towel. "Damon!" She whisper shrieked, knowing her parents were across the hall. "The hell?"

"Aww, I heard the shower, was hoping to catch you naked." He wiggled his brows and tucked his hands behind his head. The vampire was sitting on her bed, leaning against the headrest. Aria couldn't help but notice the ridiculously smug glimmer in his gaze which was undoubtedly caused by more than just Aria's near-nakedness. "By the way you look _ridiculously hot_ standing there all wet."

Aria didn't buy into his crap. She walked straight to the side of her bed, the one Damon was _oh-so-comfortably_ lying on. Then, she snatched the pillow out from under Damon's head and pointed at the window. "Out."

"How about… No."

"Fine." Aria refused to waste time on him. She walked into her cupboard and shut the door behind her. There wasn't a lock on this door, so she just kept her back pressed against it as she changed into her PJ's. When she opened the door Damon was standing _right_ on the other side.

Aria gasped and stumbled backwards, not prepared for him to be there. Almost immediately after her cheeks flamed in embarrassment when she saw amusement bloom on Damon's face. "Oh yes, this is _much_ more entertaining."

"Why are you still here?"

"I needed _someone_ to brag to about my dickery." Aria skirted around him and Damon followed her. She shut off the main lights, her room left lightly lit by the lamp by her bedside. Damon was already back in position, watching her like the cheshire cat, eyes gleaming in juvenile mirth.

"And that had to be me."

"You **are** the one who came up with the plan, Aria." He turned onto his side to continue lazily smirking at her as Aria climbed into bed. She _really_ didn't trust Damon to be lying next to her, but she couldn't exactly shove him off. "It worked, BTW. I showed up to the woods, saw Stefan and that Logan guy. I waited for my lil' bro to be shot before swooping in to save the day."

Aria gave him a sarcastic, 'Yay."

" _And_ I managed to force feed him some of my blood before I killed him, like you said. Stefan didn't notice 'cause the big whimp was too busy enjoying being filled with wood." Damon wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Aria couldn't help but laugh slightly at his stupid joke. The vampire's smirk widened and he pulled something out of his pocket. "To top it all off, I got my hand on this."

Aria stared at the compass. It was a weird looking device, that was for sure.

Mostly she had to admit that she was _surprised_. Surprised the plan worked as well as it had, surprised Damon wasn't evilly cackling as he partied with a bunch of girls. That had normally seemed his way to celebrate. Maybe Damon was finally growing up. Aria would shed a tear if she actually _believed_ that.

"So are you going to tell me why you wanted Logan a vamp?"

She looked up to meet Damon's gaze again. He'd lost a lot of his cockiness and the only emotion she could pick out in his eyes was intrigue. Aria was momentarily stunned by the… _simpleness_ to his expression. It was so very un-Damony.

She guessed maybe he was in a good mood, what with his BROTP with Stefan reaffirmed.

"He's going to be a distraction. The council might be onto all the 'animal attacks' and might start looking for you soon. Though I think your mountain lion trick might have worked this time around, seeing as you haven't killed anyone. There's still a chance the council won't buy it." Aria pulled the sheets up over her, blatantly ignoring the fact that Damon had managed to slide his hand on top of the lump under the blanket that was her hip. _Perv_.

"But I've been _soooo gooooood_ ," Damon complained with a petty pout.

"Good?" _Please_ , Aria grumbled mentally, _if this was a world where compulsion and kidnapping was legal_. "But yes, I'll admit that you've been distinctly more careful lately. No more obvious vampire kills to make the town realize that _shit vampires are real_. You're a modern day saint!"

Damon snorted with laughter and started running his hand up and down her side. Despite the layers between his touch and her skin, it still felt uncomfortably intimate. Aria shifted her arm subtlety, but it was obvious that she'd blocked Damon's touch. When she looked up again there was an annoying intensity to his gaze. For a moment she worried that he'd compel her again.

Instead he tilted his head, gaze dancing all over her face, jumping from spot to spot. "What's your secret, hmm? Why are you so… different?"

"It's this new diet called _Nunya_."

"Nunya?" Damon repeated.

"Yeah. _Nunya fucking business_."

He scowled and glared at her, but luckily there was no heat to his gaze. Fuck, she kept forgetting not to provoke the vampire. "You know I never thought teaching you to talk would land me in a vat of salt."

"Did you want fries with that?"

Damon sighed and turned onto his back. He massaged the bridge of his nose as though her mere presence suddenly caused him a severe headache. "This is why I never keep my toys for this long."

"And this is why I never let a vampire stay in my room for this long." She kicked him from under the sheets and then turned onto her other side. "Get out," she told him _again_ before shutting the lamp off. She squeezed her eyes shut and hoped to God that Damon would leave.

Aria fell asleep before she could tell, her exhausting day finally catching up to her.

X

She woke up to a frigid cold breeze and shivered as she pulled the cover tighter around her. Slowly she cracked her eyes open. Ugh, Damon had left the window open. Fucking dickhead. Aria wrapped the cover around her and she got up from the bed. Her bare feet plodded along the carpet silently and she slid the door shut with chattering teeth.

When she turned around it was to see the bathroom door crack open. Steam rose out through the gap at the top of the entryway and Aria stood gobsmacked as a naked Damon emerged. The vampire was drying his hair with a towel, but there wasn't another towel covering the rest of him.

"Oh God!" Aria swiftly hid her face behind her hands, clamping her eyes shut. That was definitely a sight she'd _never_ wanted to see. Jesus fuck, she knew Damon was an assbutt but to just _walk around naked_ in another person's home? Aria felt like she'd been violated!

"Morning Aria. Hope you don't mind. I needed a shower because I didn't get the chance to clean up at home, seeing as I spent the night sleeping with you."

Aria _gagged_. The image of Damon's naked form was burned into her eyelids. She was haunted by the ghost of Damon's naked crotch. "You are a _vile_ **disgusting** creature. I can't believe you'd just… Ugh, nevermind. I guess I can."

"Don't be such a prude."

"Don't walk around showing your dick to everyone," Aria retorted and gagged again. It wasn't even the fact she'd seen his royal jewels, she'd seen more than her fair share on tumblr. Stupid idiots who didn't tag NSFW. Anyway, it was more the fact she _never_ wanted to see **Damon** naked. Damon was an insensitive prick and now he's ruined her retinas for the rest of eternity.

"Don't be such a drama queen."

Aria ground her teeth in anger. "Don't-" She began but cut herself off. With a sigh she let go of her anger. There wasn't any point to arguing with the likes of Damon Salvatore. "Just put some clothes on. Please."

"Alllrightttt," Damon drawled the word as though the thought of dressing utterly bored him.

She supposed it probably did.

There was a sound of rustling fabric and Aria had to wonder where Damon had gotten his clothes from. Unless he was wearing the same from last night. "Okay. Stop hiding behind your hands."

Aria peeked between her fingers.

Huh. Well… they weren't the same clothes he wore last night. Instead he was in a grey henley and denim jeans of a dark shade. Aria nodded. "That's better."

"Better than being naked? Damn you're twisted."

"I just have my priorities straight. So are you going to leave so I can get ready for school or…?"

Damon started laughing and Aria was utterly lost. He grinned broadly at her. "You haven't seen the time yet?"

Aria's eyes widened and she glanced at her phone. She tapped the button and the screen lit up. "Holy fuck! It's past one?" Aria spun around in a panic. "How the hell- why- Damon!"

"Hey don't blame me I was just-"

"I need to _go_." Aria hurried towards Damon and started shoving him towards the window. "And you need to leave so I can get ready!"

"I don't think so. I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a party in about four hours. You're going to let me tag along. That _means_ , you and I need to do some shopping."

"Maybe you're willing to sacrifice my education just to… _prepare_ for some vampire dickery, but I'm not." Aria moved to shove him again, but Damon snatched her wrists. Fear struck her and gave her a stark reminder that she _wasn't_ the one in control here.

He was.

Damon looked down at her with a dangerous expression on his face. "This isn't something you can argue about, Aria. There's only so much tolerance I can maintain for you."

"You are a truly selfish douchebag." Aria jerked her hands free and looked up at him with barely concealed rage. She wanted so deeply to fight him. To slap him and hurry to school. He'd taken that choice from her though. Aria wondered what side of the line she was supposed to be on. How much could she defy him before he snapped?

Clearly he was not going to tolerate any of her complaints though. Not right now at least. Fuck, Aria had almost forgotten what _this_ kind of Damon was like. Controlling and wielding an absolutely terrifying expression. For the past few days Damon had been like a snarling puppy compared to the glaring monster she faced now.

Too bad. She was kind of growing to… _put up with_ the puppy.

Now she just felt utterly helpless again.

"Not the worst I've been called," Damon returned. His expression remained the same dark expression with sharp, cutting angles. Aria wanted to fix that. She couldn't stand him looking at her like that anymore. Sure, he'd looked at her like she was _nothing_ \- like she was _worthless_ \- many times before. Now though, after going so long without his cold disregard, Aria felt crushed.

She drew a deep breath to try and calm herself down. The last thing she needed right now was to freak out on him. He'd probably rip her heart out rather than try and deal with her. Aria couldn't stop the thought that fluttered through her head, _**someone**_ _woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning_. Then again, Damon had always had an self-esteem issue about his humanity.

Maybe he just realised he hadn't _truly_ treated Aria like shit in a while.

"You're going to get dressed and meet me downstairs. I've already dealt with your parents."

He left through the door and slammed it behind him.

Aria huffed. Fucking asshole.

X

When Aria tapped on the window to grab Damon's attention, the vampire rolled it down and looked at her blandly. She sighed and gave him a fake smile. "Baby you've got the keys, shut up and drive."

Much to her relief, Damon cracked a smirk. Better to have him in a good mood, than a bad one. He popped open the door and Aria slid in as smoothly as she could manage. When she was settled, seatbelt buckled, Damon caught her gaze. "You know that songs about sex?"

Aria blinked at him blankly.

"Wind me up and watch me go? My engine's ready to explode?"

Aria scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Firstly, you quoting Rihanna lyrics is hilarious-" Damon gave her an unimpressed look. "Secondly, my childhood is now ruined. Thanks, no thanks."

"Just doing my deed for society."

She scoffed and leant forward to turn on the radio, but Damon slapped her hand away. "What?"

"No music. I've got a headache."

Aria quirked a brow at him in disbelief.

"Seriously. You don't mind, do you?"

In truth Aria would have much preferred music than awkward silence, but she didn't press the issue. A classic rule about Damon was that he got what he wanted. "Not at all," she answered.

"Much appreciated."

Silence fell, as awkward as Aria predicted.

She couldn't have that.

Normally she'd just travel, but she wanted to keep an eye on where they were going. Instead she settled on staring out the window. When that got too boring, Aria switched to toying with her sleeves and when that got old she hazarded a peek at Damon…

…Who was staring at her.

"Um?" Aria's brows furrowed. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Damon parroted and reached out with his right hand. "May I?"

Aria wasn't sure what he planned to do, but she couldn't find the words to answer. She found herself struck speechless by the look in his gunmetal eyes. It was the most… earnest expression she'd ever seen on his face.

With his supernatural grace and poise Damon reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Aria's ear. Cliche, but to Aria it felt like he was trying to convey something to her. A message. That moment was almost game changer had Aria allowed herself to get past her intense scrutiny of Damon's motives.

She couldn't, for the life of her, let herself believe that he could ever have good intentions. Not for her. Not for his human pet.

He himself had called her such.

"Aria?"

Belatedly Aria realized she was shaking like a leaf, quivering like an emotional mess. She quickly clenched her fists to try and stop the shaking, so tightly that her nails dug into her palms.

"Hey… Aria…" He was looking at her with that damn earnest expression again, full of concern and worry. Even his brows furrowed ever so slightly. It was a whole new look on Damon, one Aria had only seen on Television. "How about you don't hate my guts, just for today? We could have funnnn."

He teased the word out and Aria stared flatly at him. Sure… she knew that Damon grew to not be a total asshole, but this kind of pleasantry so early on? It had to be a trick. There was no way Aria was going to fall for it. If she let her guard down for a second it could end with her corpse being dumped in a shallow grave out in the woods.

"I don't hate you," Aria found herself admitting as she crossed her arms. "You don't deserve hate from anyone Damon, you do what you do."

"Then what is it?"

"Have you considered the fact you've been toying with me for your own personal amusement the last few weeks?" Aria watched his face carefully. Spied the tiny quirks that gave away what little Aria could snatch. Sometimes she felt like she could tell exactly what he had planned, but then he goes and does something like… this. "Also, I happen to know everything you're capable of. You're impulsive, which makes you dangerous. So I treat you as such."

Damon stared at the road for a worryingly long time.

When he turned back there was a new fire to his gaze. "I'm dangerous, yes, but not to you. Not anymore. Unfortunately I know you won't ever believe that."

"Until you prove otherwise… No I won't believe you." Aria couldn't let herself. She just couldn't trust him. She had to wonder though… if his goal wasn't to mess with her right now… then what was it? "If you really aren't a danger to me anymore, then you'd do the right thing and leave me alone. That's what I've wanted since I moved here. To stay out of your mess and the supernatural bullcrap that's going on around here."

"Do you really think that's best? I thought you were smarter than that Ari, the best place to put yourself is right in the middle of things. Let's you keep up to date with what's going on. Gives you a chance to play the field."

"Maybe that would be the smartest move, but at this point I don't even care about being smart. I just want out." Aria knew she was winding herself up, so she quickly tried to calm down. She didn't want to get emotional, now wasn't the time to try and beg for her freedom. Damon wasn't ready to be open to her suggestions, not yet at least.

He proved that only a moment later. "You can't always get what you want."

She sighed and glanced at him again. He was looking at her with a depth she couldn't hope to understand. It was easy enough to see though that Damon wasn't happy with how their afternoon was going. Aria had to agree. Topic change then, "So it's the Halloween party tonight, right? What are you going as?"

Damon seemed more than happy to go along. He flashed an eyebrow wiggle at her before turning back to face the road. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Well if we're shopping together I assume I'm going to find out."

Damon shook his head. "Actually, this afternoon is for you. I've got about a dozen ideas for costumes I want you to try out."

Great, Aria thought. I get to be Damon's Halloween guinea pig. "Narrow it down to three. I'm not a model, nor do I like dressing up all that much."

"What? Where's your Halloween spirit!"

"Lost it in 'Nam."

Damon sent her an unimpressed gaze.

Aria blew a huff of air. She didn't want to 'fess up to the vampire, so she settled on a less personal answer. "I've never much been one for parties Damon."

"Ooo, the silent loner type. Mysterious."

"You're one to talk. At least I don't have to sleep around and get drunk every day to stay moderately happy."

It was a low blow, but Damon appeared unaffected by her antics. "If you'd ever done either you'd probably understand why I do it."

Aria felt her eyes widen. Wow. She turned back to look out the window, hiding the blush spreading across her features. "Oh no," she tried for indifferent although inside she felt a little off-balance. "You've offended my fragile virgin identity. Ravish me so I'm no longer an inexperienced white flower."

"White flower? Please. You're a rose if I ever saw one."

Aria was relieved he hadn't picked up on how much his words had affected her. Or maybe he had and wasn't teasing her for the fact. Either way, shit was getting weird. "Flattery, Damon. I already told you, it won't get you anywhere."

"You think I was trying to flatter you? Pfft," he brushed Aria aside with the flick of a wrist. "I was merely stating the obvious. You're bursting auburn hair, coupled by your lush pink lips and swirling ochre eyes. You're nature incarnate."

"That was actually pretty poetic of you, I'm surprised you know so many words."

"Haha," Damon drawled. He glanced down at her, gunmetal gaze piercing. "I think you just have a problem accepting compliments. Parents not love you enough?"

"If we're starting our psychoanalyzing then I bags reminding you that you've been in love with the same woman for one-hundred and forty-so years. Whipped, much?" Aria smirked, a smugness to match even Damon's. "What's the matter Damon? Parents not love you enough."

"Deflection. I knew it. You totally can't handle compliments." Damon was smiling a secret smile and Aria began to worry. God, he was incredibly on point though with his assumption. Aria had always had an issue believing people when they complimented her. Now he friggin' knew. It felt like Damon was a supervillain who'd just discovered her kryptonite.

"And you, can't handle the truth."

Damon laughed aloud at her words. "Nicholson, really?"

"Well you can't." Aria couldn't help but allow herself a little smile. Damon's amusement was infectious. "It's your fatal flaw."

"Ah no," Damon licked his lips and gestured harshly with his hand. "Obviously my fatal flaw is you."

Perhaps Damon hadn't meant to say exactly those words, because as soon as they left his lips he stilled. Aria found herself stunned as well. She'd heard the words but they didn't seem to register fully, for Damon Salvatore seemed to have just implied- No, Aria quickly stopped that train of thought. She hurriedly thought to find something else to say. "I don't know, I recon Stephan's probably your fatal flaw now. You care too much about the BROTP to let it be messed up. You're bromance is definitely going to grow over the next few years."

"Okay now you've just made it sound weird."

Damon went along with her deflection. She wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe she should have pressed for information, find out what he meant. She didn't want to risk hearing something she didn't want to know though, perhaps a new creepy opinion he had of her. You're my new favorite mannequin. Aria gagged mentally.

"I personally think it's cute. You two are real BFF's and you take the forever literally."

"Yeah we're the modern day Copper and Tod."

Aria frowned at him. "A Disney reference, really?"

"You put me on the spot," Damon defended and turned down a street. "We're nearly there."

"Nearly where?"

Damon gave her a sly smirk. "You'll see."

Aria was unimpressed. "I'm guessing it's some costume warehouse or something, given how far out we've had to drive. Unless you're taking me to Macy's."

"What kind of costume could I get you at Macy's?"

"White girl beach look?" Aria suggested then shrugged. "I don't know. I'm working with what little I have, Damon. You're not exactly helping."

"Alright… just one more minute." Damon took another turn and their view was suddenly blocked by dozens of shipping crates and storage lockers. Where the hell were they?

Aria eyed Damon hesitantly. "You know I'm starting to think you're going back on your word and are taking me to the middle of nowhere to kill me."

"Yes, but I'm going to make you dig your own grave first."

She scoffed. "That's so cliché and unoriginal."

"Maybe for you, but I haven't killed someone in nearly a week so anything will do." Damon said with a straight face. Aria didn't believe him for a second.

"Well at least I won't have to finish my history assignment."

It was almost as though she passed some kind of test, because Damon's straight face broke out in a grin and Aria felt immensely pleased with herself. She'd been able to see through his bullshit once again.

She was too busy admiring the smile on Damon's face to notice when they pulled into a parking space. When she looked away from his contagious grin, Aria saw where they were and cheered. "Yes! Called it."

"We are indeed at a costume warehouse. Now get out and try on those cute lil' bunny costumes they have." Damon blurred out of his seat and was instantly outside the passenger door. He opened it for her and swooped his hand in a welcoming gesture. "I brought my camera, by the way."

"Oh joy," Aria droned. She climbed out and waited for Damon to shut the door behind her before stretching out her back. She reached her arms to the sky and waited for her muscles to be sated. The awesome feeling of a proper stretch always bettered her mood. Her arms fell back to her sides and she turned to see Damon watching her with a heady gaze.

"Are we heading in?" Aria asked, not sure what his problem was.

Damon nodded and looked away from her. "After you," he offered oh-so politely.

Aria was a little curious about his sudden shift in mood, but she headed on inside anyway. If they only had about 3 hours left, she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. After the car ride Aria felt a little more comfortable about going along with Damon wishes. Sure, he hadn't exactly asked her nicely to come along but at least he wasn't being a total douchebag about it.

When she stepped into the store Aria's eyes went wide as she took in the the vast space that was utterly filled with costumes. She felt Damon step up behind her, and she knew she should get a move on… but Jesus, how many of these was he going to make her try on?

It suddenly occurred to her that she was nervous. Aria had never been one to enjoy dressing up or attend parties, but now look at her. She was on her way to becoming Regina George. Well… maybe that was an overstatement.

Damon spared her from embarrassing herself. He grabbed onto her hand without asking and slid her arm through his elbow. He then patted her hand and looked down at her with a teasing smirk. "Don't worry I'll take goooood care of you."

Aria gulped but nodded slightly.

His smirk softened as he undoubtedly picked up on her nerves. "Alright, fine. I'll narrow it down to three." He started tugging her gently forward, and Aria found herself able to walk again. It was awfully embarrassing to freeze up like that in front of Damon, just because of a few silly costumes. "Come on. Let's try out the witch costume first."

He guided her through the aisles until they spotted the section that held an abundance of witch and wiccan props. Damon picked up a fake nose that was as pointy as it was ugly. "What do you think?"

Aria scrunched her nose at it. "Ew. I'd rather dye my hair green."

"Is that an option?" Damon asked like an excited puppy.

She shook her head firmly. "No, but I'd be willing to wear a wig."

"Nuh-uh, I love your hair. You aren't hiding it under a bunch of cheap crap." Damon searched through the packages of witch robes and dresses. He paused on a few of the more glamourous gowns before settling on a lengthy black one that had a trail of white spiders sewn up the side of it. "How about this, and a hat?"

"Alright," Aria agreed reluctantly. Damon beamed and snatched a hat off one of the hangers before handing both over. She looked at them with trepidation. She was supposed to wear that? Unlike Damon's previous wardrobe choice this one was a lot more revealing. There was a long slit up the skirt that would bare her legs, not to mention the fact it was designed to hang off her shoulders.

"Go ahead and try it on. There's a change room right over there."

Aria looked to where Damon was pointing. Sure enough, there was a simple tent in the corner for her to try on the costume. Fuck it, Aria thought. Only Damon would see her, and he'd seen her in no more than a towel. There was no reason to be nervous. Right?

She folded all of her clothes and tucked them away in the corner as she changed. The dress was a pretty good fit, a little too long but Aria would manage the short distance back to Damon. Hopefully without tripping. She really didn't like how the dress only started just above her breasts. Aria had honestly never worn anything so… revealing before.

When she emerged Damon wolf whistled and took a picture like the perv he was and Aria rolled her eyes. Of course he was friggin' enjoying this. She drew up the skirt in her hands and tip toed over to Damon. The hat felt awkward on her head, and she couldn't really look up at him when the brim of it was so wide.

"This is awful," Aria admitted with a disdainful tug on the hem of the skirt.

She stepped back so she could see Damon's face. His lips pursed in consideration, then he nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right. It's not your style. You're not really a witch, more like a fortune teller."

Aria was surprised by his agreeance. She'd thought he'd enjoy objectifying her too much to care for her uncomfortableness. "What?"

"You know, bandana, hippie clothes, crystal ball?" Damon reached up and plucked the hat from her head. "Besides, too many people dress up as witches anyway."

"I suppose it does fit better." Aria flicked her hair back, some of it had gotten caught up in the hat when Damon had lifted it off. Her hair was one of the few appearances she worked hard to maintain. "Though I wish you had of thought of that sooner," she added bitterly.

Damon smirked. Ah, so he'd done it all on purpose. Asshole. "Go ahead and try this on," Damon said and Aria looked down to see he held a new costume in his hands. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the model in the picture.

The costume didn't actually look half bad. It was basically a midnight blue flowing dress, the top half was covered with a black, see through material. Then over that was an accompanying cloak that was made of a dashing purple fabric, dotted with symbols woven from golden thread. To top it off was a belt with a giant sun symbol at the front, and decorated with the same golden thread.

Not to forget the golden headband she'd have to wrap around her forehead.

"This is beautiful," Aria proclaimed as she accepted the costume. "I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off, but I have to try it on." She simply had to.

"No way to know unless you try." Damon settled against a nearby support beam and Aria thumbed the costume a few times. He watched her closely, eyes following her thumb as it ran up and down the plastic casing. He must've been able to tell she was stalling, for he gently cupped her chin and tilted her head up. Their gazes locked and Damon's eyes were full of words he wished to say but never would.

Aria was mesmerized.

"It's okay," She told him when she finally spotted the concern in his gaze. Finally she was starting to read him, learn how to see what he couldn't bring himself to say. "I'll be right back."

Finding courage from Damon's consideration, Aria grabbed the costume and headed back into the tent-like room to change. She disregards the headband but pulls on the dress and the robe before moving to step out to ask for Damon's help with the belt.

Only, it hits her suddenly that she's completely out of her element. She feels her thoughts narrow down to one single stream of, oh God what the hell am I doing? Aria felt all of her insecurities well up inside of her and thus fueling her anxiety about the party and the costume. Aria fell against the wall, using her arm to support her weak knees. Hot, burning tears of terror welled in her eyes and she wanted nothing more than to get changed back into her normal clothes and go home.

Aria didn't like parties. She didn't handle other people well, she hated crowds and talking and socialising. Dressing up was never in her to-do list, drawing attention to herself by wearing costumes? No fucking way. Aria wanted to rip the midnight blue fabric from her form but she could barely find the strength to move.

All of it was dedicated to stopping herself from crying.

She would not cry.

Before Aria had a chance to react the curtains were drawn back in a flash and Damon was standing there, eyes wide with worry as he took in her state. Right, he'd probably heard her sniffling or the racing beat of her heart.

Damon opened his mouth to say something, but Aria silenced him. "If you're going to be a dick right now please just go away. I don't have the restraint currently not to slap you if you piss me off." Her panic was multiplying, merging into one swelling mass of dark thoughts and self-loathing.

The vampire simply quirked his lips in a 'what can you do?' kind of manner before reaching out and pulling her into his arms. Aria was squished against his chest and he tilted her head so her cheek rested in the crook of his neck. Aria's nose was tickling his collar, and all she could smell was Damon's scent… Lavender with a hint of cedar and sandalwood.

He was hugging her.

And something about his smell surrounding her, (she hated to admit how much that scent comforted her), and the way he was gently stroking her hair whilst holding her so completely with his soft warmth left Aria friggin' sobbing on Damon's chest.

As soon as the tears started flowing Aria realised she didn't even know exactly why she was crying anymore. It was just a huge mess of her pent up emotions from the past few weeks and the crippling social anxiety she suffered from. Damon held her kind of awkwardly as she stained his Henley with tears.

He let her sob in silence, hugging her in the middle of a costume warehouse that resided in bumfuck nowhere. It was the most ridiculous situation Aria could ever imagine. The most unbelievable fact? That an impulsive, asshole vampire was hugging her- in a comforting way.

"You know," Damon said after a few minutes of Aria's constant sobbing. Eventually her tears had run out, but she still felt utterly miserable. "I've never been good with the whole 'girl crying in my arms' thing. Leave a review on my Yelp page, tell me how many stars I got."

Aria found herself laughing in response, and she glanced up to see Damon smiling ever so slightly, eyes full of such raw genuity that Aria felt a little out of sync. "Okay."

His smile shifted into a smirk, but it wasn't like his usual assholic ones. This one was simple amusement, so innocent in its basic directives. Aria felt her sorrow draining away as she lost herself in that expression. It was like a breath of fresh air to see him so real.

He wasn't being a dick just to further one of his master ploys. Aria realized this was him being… him. Still, she wouldn't let herself grow weak and believe that as the complete truth. Damon surely had some master plan the whole 'hug' thing was wrapped up in.

"You never had a girl cry on you before?" Aria questioned, trying to find her place in their routine again.

He shrugged. "Normally I compel them before the water works start."

"But not me?" Aria found herself asking. Maybe he was sticking to his promise about no more compulsion. He had let himself be incredibly uncomfortable for a few moments, just because he refused to compel her. Aria didn't know how she felt about the fluttering feeling she felt growing in her chest.

"Well there is something satisfying in seeing you so utterly ruined in my arms," Damon admitted with a suggestive tone and an eyebrow wiggle to match. His smirk was full-blown charm again and Aria huffed and rolled her eyes, trying to mask her amusement. She knew he didn't miss the small grin on her face though.

"Now," Damon pulled back just so, enough that he could see her full face. His hands still rested on her shoulders and he tilted his head down just a little so their gazes were level. His previous joking tone was completely gone, replaced by a frighteningly serious expression. "You want to tell me what that was all about?"

"No," she answered immediately. No way was she telling Damon her sob story.

He pouted preciously. "Awwwwwww, come onnnn…"

"Never," Aria swore and tugged on her dress. "I'm gonna take this off now."

His hands slid down from her shoulders to her hands in one swift move, and Aria felt as he wound their fingers together. Damon's eyes were practically dazzling, cerulean essence dancing in his captivating gems. "Tell me? Please?"

She felt as though someone had just pulled some elaborate practical joke on her. This wasn't the Damon that had been threatening her only hours before. Aria was thoroughly lost in the maze that was his wild shifts in personalities. She wondered whether it was possible for her to get whiplash. "Oh well because you asked so nicely," Aria said sarcastically

He groaned and stuck out his bottom lip, the perfect puppy dog eyes. "I let you cry on me, it's only fair."

Should she tell him? Aria really didn't want to.

He sighed at her silence and pulled her back into their hug. She felt him rest his chin on the top of her head, and as he spoke his words reverberated in his chest, humming against her skin. "Let me guess, you're terrified of this party tonight, right?"

Aria blinked and frowned against his chest. "How'd you know?"

"If you've lived for a hundred years you're bound to pick up on some things. It's not hard to piece it all together." He shifted and pressed his mouth to her hair, breathing in deeply. Maybe Aria wasn't the only one who enjoyed the other's scent. It was weird as hell, but it's not like she'd call him out on it when she'd done pretty much the same thing. It would be the pot calling the kettle black.

"You spend a lot of time alone," Damon stated interrupting her thoughts. He continued as though ticking off a list. "You're wardrobe is severely lacking and not once have I seen you wear any makeup other than lip balm. You've never been one to try and standout in a crowd, have you? Things like that scare you."

Aria let out a shaky breath. He'd hit the nail on the head. "If someone pays attention to me they'll realise what a freak I am. I space out all the time and I hate talking to more than a few people and I always feel so damn uncomfortable in my own fucking skin."

Damon held her tighter and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Aria refused to acknowledge it. Unfortunately she found that once she'd started talking, she couldn't stop.

"I'm so scared, Damon. Every event I've ever gone to has always made me feel so damn self-conscious and I've never had fun at one. I hate trying to talk to people. I hate how it feels to have to wear dresses or whatever to make yourself look pretty. I don't care for that kind of stuff, and I hate having to conform to it." Aria felt her heart clench painfully as all of her thoughts were thrown in the air. Most as well get it all out then, Aria thought, "And I hate being broken."

Damon was quiet as he held her. She wondered if he'd finally decided to snap her neck.

"I'll tell you what. You're going to come with me to this party tonight, and you're going to wear this costume that makes you look positively stunning, but no one is going to pay attention to you because they'll be too busy paying attention to me." Damon pulled back with a smirk on his face.

It wasn't a cocky look though, it was a plotting one.

Welp, Aria was screwed.

Aria didn't have it in her heart to disagree. She was tired and embarrassed and she just wanted to buy the stuff and go home. Were she in a better mood she would argue with him and remind him how hard it was for her to go to parties. Boring balls like the one from the other night were one thing. Balls were formal and had a set attire, they didn't require any one person to stand out and most of the people there Aria wouldn't have to see again.

Parties though, school parties, were a whole different ball park. A whole new level of terror.

Now Damon was cajoling her to go just so he could complete some vampire dickery.

Though, through her annoyance at her situation, she couldn't help but feel humbled by all of Damon's concern and comfort. He'd really surprised her with his response to all of her bullshit.

"If that's what you want," Aria said finally.

Damon grinned widely and nodded. "It is. Trust me. I'll make sure you have fun tonight."

Trust him? Aria considered his words, and all of his actions that afternoon.

"Alright." Aria gave him a tiny smile. "I'll trust you, just for tonight."

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._


	7. Chapter 7

**We've nearly reached 1k hits and I'm freaking out omg you guys are the best! {P.S, you reviewed, so u get the next chapter- that's how the author/reader relationship works** **( ˘ ³˘)** **ᵏᴵˢઽ** **} Enjoy~!**

* * *

The ride home was fairly uneventful. They returned to their normal bickering which relieved Aria immensely. Their time in the costume warehouse felt like a really weird dream. It wasn't that she didn't believe Damon was capable of caring, she knew well he was. Stefan, Elena, Alaric, and many others were proof of that.

It was that he might care for _her_ that made it all really confusing.

Aria spent the time trying to find out what Damon's costume was. He kept brushing her questions aside though and just promised she'd find out when he picked her up at 4:30.

They pulled up to her house and he handed her the shopping bag that had her costume in it. She thanked him, remembering how he'd paid for it _with his own cash_. It had been a miracle.

"Tonight's going to be fun," Damon said, leaning across the armrest. "I promise. If you get too nervous though, we'll go get a plate of nachos to share instead."

The option was there and Aria appreciated it immensely. She was pretty sure he'd be woeful to let the opportunity for messing with Stefan and Elena pass though, so it'd probably be better if she _didn't_ cancel their plans. "Okay. Try not to kill anyone 'till I next see you," Aria said by way of goodbye.

He gave her a sly grin. "I can't make any promises. See ya' beautiful."

Aria waved and turned, heading inside. She needed as much time as possible to get her head on straight. Distantly she heard Damon beep the horn. _Real mature_ , she thought and then shut and locked the door behind her.

X

She spent her precious spare time doing her history assignment.

Fun.

As she was filling out a verse about Mystic Falls in the late 1800's, a thought hit her. How ironic it was, that she was so distrustful of Damon. Had that not been the path many characters chose on the show? And look where that had gotten them. None of them had realised that Damon _could_ make a connection. Could care and protect and _trust_.

And Aria was making the same mistake. So deep was she in a thick bed of mistrust and wariness that she hadn't let herself be open to Damon's attempts of _companionship_. **She** was the asshole for shutting him out so thoroughly, for knocking him down without even giving him a chance to stand.

If she gave him just the _tiniest_ of leeway, maybe things wouldn't go straight to hell.

But how could she tell where the line was to cross? At what point did letting Damon _in_ become just plain stupid?

She sighed and stopped that train of thought. The only thing she could be **absolutely** sure of was that to earn her freedom, she'd have to make Damon care for her enough to let her go.

Like they taught her in history class, she should learn from past mistakes.

Ew, but now she was actually listening to advice from school.

X

It was easier to put the costume on a second time, and she even dared to try a little of her mother's eyeshadow and lip gloss. It wasn't much, but it was a big thing for her. She stared at herself in the hallway mirror and checked herself over.

She didn't look _too_ bad. At least she could say her hair was on point.

It would do.

When she was satisfied with her work she headed downstairs, clutching a shimmering purse of gold to match the rest of her outfit. Her mother was lounging on the couch, stretched out reading a magazine of sorts. Aria sat down across from her.

It was a little while before her mother glanced up.

"Aria," her mother smiled. "You look lovely."

"Thanks." Aria played with the clasp of her purse. "I'm going to a Halloween party, with Damon. Is that okay?"

Aria's mother nodded enthusiastically. "I knew this move would be good for us. Your father's job is going well, I've made nice with the townspeople and you have a handsome man vying for your attention." She turned the page of her magazine. "Also, you're finally coming out of your shell."

Of course that's all her mother would mention. She hadn't been able to notice Aria's weeks of disappearance and pain. It was crazy to see how far she'd come. She had started down the bottom, now she was here, practically going on _another_ date with Damon Salvatore.

"I suppose it's not as bad as it could've been," Aria admitted. She'd managed to keep Damon from killing her, and so far she'd stayed out of the firing line. Although Damon seemed hell bent on trying to get her to talk to Elena and Stefan. The worst thing was that Aria knew how good Damon was at getting his way, no matter what.

"Exactly. You know I was thinking we could help your father over the next few days. He's been asked to speak at your Careers night and-"

The doorbell rang and rudely interrupted her mother's words. Aria found herself smiling a little bit though, the sound meant Damon had arrived. Jesus, she was _excited_ by that fact. What was the world coming to?

Maybe it was because of her mini-revelation about being less of a bitch.

"That's probably Damon," Aria said and hopped up to answer the door. She heard her mother follow her. They were like greeters at Walmart, great. Aria paused right outside the door.

"Aren't you gonna open it?" Her mother questioned.

Aria debated, maybe it would be fun to just make Damon wait. However, the urge to find out what his costume was was too strong. She drew open the door and peered out into the afternoon light.

"What in the hell…" Aria gaped openly as she took in whoever the fuck was in front of her. They wore what appeared to be a yellow and red cheerleading outfit, skirt a barely legal length. To top it off was a dirty blonde wig in a high ponytail tied with a yellow and red scrunchie. "Holy shit Damon, is that you?"

The figure shifted and did a high kick and Aria thanked the Gods that he was wearing bike pants under the skirt. "No, I'm Buffy the Vampire slayer."

Aria blinked. "You have pom poms."

"Aria, did you hear me?" Damon stepped closer, and Aria could make out his face better now. There was a hesitant smile on his face. " _Vampire slayer_."

His words didn't register. Aria was too busy trying to get over the fact Damon was dressed up as a cheerleader. He had a skirt on and fake boobs and Aria could _not_ process the situation _at all_.

"You're wearing a wig," Aria found herself mumbling.

Damon rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand. He hauled her towards him and she fell against him as she lost her balance. Of course, he caught her easily and soon she was facing his smirk head on. "See? Told you I'd draw all the attention to myself. Don't I just pull off cross dressing so incredibly well?"

"It's certainly… different." Aria looked him up and down, trying to get used to what she was seeing. "I mean… Umm…"

Damon's face cracked into a wide grin. "Hah! See, even **you're** speechless."

"Damon-"

"Let's just get going. You can stutter your way through a complete sentence on the way to your school." Damon spun her around so her shoulder brushed against his, hips touching as he turned them around to address her mother. Aria found herself letting him move her, it was a big thing for her. Her first step in affording him a little trust. "Have a good night Mrs. Bailey."

"You two have fun. Curfew's before one."

Wow. _Thanks mom_ , Aria thought with a _teensy bit_ of condescension.

"I'll get her back _long_ before that," Damon promised, surprising Aria.

Huh, maybe tonight wouldn't go so bad.

They departed then and Aria happily let Damon hold her close, arm wrapped around her shoulders in a half-hug. She was surprised the physical touch by the self-proclaimed 'dangerous' vampire didn't make her feel uncomfortable. Aria was letting him _way_ too close, but she was helpless to stop herself now. She'd made up her mind.

He opened the door for her like usual, and as he ran around to the other side of the car his ponytail flung around madly. Aria wondered how she was supposed to focus on anything other than the fact Damon was wearing _scrunchies_.

She slid into the passenger seat and swiftly folded up all of the loose fabric so it wouldn't catch.

"I haven't had the chance to say it yet, but you look absolutely beautiful. I see you put on some make up, just for me?"

Aria scoffed. She shut her door and watched as Damon did the same. He turned over the engine, revving it twice before taking off. It gave her enough time to try and recollect her thoughts. Finally she responded, "Don't flatter yourself Damon."

"Mmm'kay, I was just wondering." He smiled to himself, lips glittering as though he was wearing lipgloss. He probably was. "How are you feeling about tonight?"

"Well now that I've seen how fabulous you look all dressed up I can't imagine being the target of anyones attention. What are you, Buffy?" Aria asked. "Wait… Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Oh my God!" Aria burst out laughing as she realized the irony to his costume.

"About time it finally registered. _Yes_ , I'm Buffy." Damon smirked as he listened to her laughter. Aria appreciated the situation even more when she realized only very few would be privy to the joke. "Also, you'll have _all of_ my attention. For the entire night. Give or take a few moments for pissing off Stefan."

He said his brother's name like it was curse. Aria chuckled, amused by how he was playing up the whole 'I hate my brother' angle. "You know what? I'm genuinely flattered."

"What? No way!"

Aria held up a hand like she was swearing to the Lord. "God's honest truth."

"Damn this is like… it's like your birthday. New you. What's the deal?"

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown," Aria quoted.

"H.P. Lovecraft, how poetic."

Aria shrugged. "See, I realized that, I _know_ what's going to happen. I know the 'unknown', so I shouldn't be so afraid."

Damon swallowed and glanced at her, eyes full of something fragile. Aria hoped she wouldn't fuck it up. "You're afraid of me."

"Not anymore." Aria told him honestly. "I'm going to give you something Damon, something that if you make _one_ mistake, you'll lose." She drew a deep breath and looked at her hands, unable to face him. "I'm giving you my trust. I hope you understand what that means."

When Damon didn't respond for a long while, Aria hazarded a glance. He wasn't looking at her, but she could easily make out the shock on his face. He couldn't comprehend what was going on, and neither could she, to be honest.

"Damon… I don't know how you want things to work between us. It seems to be the one thing I can't get a vision for." Aria picked at the fabric of her dress. "You might snap my neck once you get enough information from me, or you could lock me up again like before. No matter what though, I just want you to know I don't have any expectations. I know what I'm getting into by offering you this."

"No strings attached, huh?"

"If that's how you want to put it." Aria knew right then and there though, she wasn't going to be the one to fuck this up. It would all be on Damon from now on. She'd laid herself on the metaphorical chopping block and now it was Damon's choice whether to drink her dry or not.

Damon seemed in deep thought for a while, and Aria joined him. She thought about her other world and quite quickly she was there, without entirely meaning to be. No matter. She went over to her ipod dock and turned on the music. If Damon wouldn't let her turn on the radio this would have to do.

Her bed was as good as any place to think and she laid down to consider what she'd said to Damon. Had she admitted to trusting him too easily? Would he abuse her trust and betray her like she knew he was oh-so capable of? Either way it's not like it'd make much of a difference. Damon would make his decisions eventually anyway.

Now she just had to wonder if he believed her. She had no reason to lie to him, although she could understand if he felt disadvantaged, she did have future knowledge after all. It was an incredibly useful advantage.

Just as Aria was about to contemplate the imminent party they were going to, something itched at the back of her mind. She blinked.

"Yeah?"

"I swear when you space out it's like you actually do go to another planet." Damon shifted his grip on the steering wheel. "Uh… I just wanted to let you know that I do understand and that if I do end up fucking this up you can feel free to send Stefan after me."

"That's a bold statement."

"Not as bold as yours." Damon turned the wheel and Aria noticed they were pulling up to the school. Aria suddenly remembered the nerves in her gut. "While we're on the subject, I'm gonna have to ask you for a favor. Girl to... sorta-girl." Damon smirked down at Aria. "Let me know if my boobs get lopsided at any time tonight."

Aria snorted in her amusement and nodded her agreement. "Sure thing, as long as you do the same for me."

Damon's eyes sparked with amusement and he pulled the brake. Once the car was fully stopped he swiveled in his seat to face her fully. "Now considering the brand new you," Damon reached into the backseat and pulled out a box. Aria frowned at it. "I brought you a gift."

"There's a bow on it," Aria said as she furrowed her brows.

He handed it over and she took it carefully in her hands. It wasn't too heavy and Aria shook it lightly to try and guess what it was. Something moved inside.

"Go ahead," Damon smiled. It was one of those weirdly genuine expressions that revealed how honestly happy he was with the current situation. "Open it."

Aria held his gaze for a little longer, enjoying the carefree look on his face. He had so many different expressions, but this was definitely her favorite. "It better not be booby trapped," she said and undid the bow.

She figured it was a good sign that it didn't explode. She glanced one more time at Damon, trying to commit this new expression to memory. If only she could take a screenshot and post it to her other world's tumblr… Think of the notes!

The box opened without too much effort and inside was something wrapped in crinkly tissue paper. Tentatively she peeled back the covering, and slowly a gleaming crystal of the deepest ruby red was revealed. It shined as the setting sun's light hit it and Aria traced a single finger along its smooth surface. It was… _unbelievable._

"Damon…"

He aimed a bright expression at her. "So I guess you like it then?"

"I- Damon-" She took in a breath in an attempt to get her thoughts together. "Don't tell me this is a crystal ball."

"Well then in that case it's in fact a baby guinea pig that just so happens to tell the future." Damon picked it out of the box and held it up to eye level. "I think I'm gonna name him Bailey."

Aria felt her lips twitch into a smile and she reached out to take the sphere from his grasp. It was easy enough to hold and she lifted it up to see through it. The school lay beyond, tinted rouge by the quartz. "Your costume choices have such depth. The irony of being a vampire slayer, a statement against your own kind. Then with me, a fortune teller. Firstly, a bold statement, secondly, a message."

"Ooo, are you analyzing my decisions now?"

"Yes, but that's about as far as I've gotten."

Damon gave her a peculiar look. His focus wavered for a moment and Aria turned to follow his line of sight. Sure enough, Stefan and Elena were in sight. It was pretty clear Damon was already planning a whole bunch of _fun_ things."I mean… I guess that was _amusing_ but instead of hypothesis, how about we go party now, huh?"

"This time you're going to keep me up to date with your plans. I haven't had any visions about tonight." Aria held her skirt as she climbed out of the car. Damon already there, holding the door open for her. He held out her hand for hers and Aria gave it easily. Her hand slid softly into his grip and she used its leverage to stand, rocky on her ankle boots.

Damon waited for her to steady herself before starting to walk towards the party. Aria clung to his arm in her fear. There were so many people and she'd have to spend at least an _hour_ in a crowd of kids she had to see at school everyday and she was wearing something _other_ than casual jeans and a shirt and-

"Aria." Damon's eyes were suddenly right in front of her and his hands were holding her face still, cheeks warm under his hands. His gaze was all-consuming and Aria felt her thoughts drift away as his pupils narrowed into dots. "If this gets too much, tell me, and we'll go somewhere else."

She felt the compulsion settle heavily in her bones. It had a calming effect on her and Aria felt her racing heart slow to a more normal beat. She still felt anxious about the party, but Damon's words reassured her. Aria could just tell him if it got too much, and she hoped to God he wasn't lying when he said they could leave at any time.

"Thanks." Aria's gratitude was genuine, and Damon wound up smiling because of it. He brushed his thumb along her cheek and rolled his head forward, forehead resting against hers. His breath tickled her lips and his cerulean orbs peered into her own like he was willing to marvel her for the rest of the century. "I'm totally down for an eskimo kiss right now," Aria told him honestly as an attempt to break the odd intensity surrounding them.

Damon leered and she felt as he pressed their bodies closer. She hoped no one was watching, but no doubt he'd done this precisely when Stefan and Elena were looking. Although, despite this knowledge Aria didn't feel used. She was pretty sure he was being genuine right now, though she didn't let her hope surge. She burrowed it deep, _deep_ down as he moved closer and touched their noses together.

An eskimo kiss was one of the most G-rated things Aria could've thought of, but Damon had somehow made it into something far more intense than Aria had expected. He kept their bodies pressed together, noses touching, for an immeasurable amount of time.

"You smell soooo good," Damon murmured against her lips. Fuck, when had their mouths gotten so close? "Not as good as you taste, but Jeez Aria. You do all kinds of things to me that are far too inappropriate to mention."

Aria scoffed and allowed his closeness for a few more seconds before pulling back. She watched their hands as she entwined their fingers together. Damon let her and she cheered silently. Damn right Damon liked holding hands.

"I think I can do this."

Damon smirked. "Good." He turned back to the direction of the party. "Because things are about to get heated and we're only going to add fuel to the self-loathing, bambi killing vampire fire."

."That was a terrible metaphor," Aria said as they started walking again.

"Yeah well to make a good metaphor you need **good** subjects." Damon put specific emphasis on one of the words and Aria frowned at him. A new view on Damon's thoughts everyday. His expression shifted abruptly and Aria noticed that Stefan had approached them, Elena in toe. "Speak of the devil.

Aria was a little confused to see them _together_ , but then she realized that their break up mustn't of happened, because Vicki was never turned. Did that mean she knew about vampires now, then?

Oh shit. Aria just _had to_ tell Damon.

"Hey there Steffy," Aria greeted. She looked him up and down, approving of the surgeon costume he wore. "Come to give Damon a new heart? One that isn't all dark and corrupted?"

Elena clung to Stefan and it was pretty clear by how she was glaring at Damon that she was _not_ happy with him. Her distrust was potent and Aria had to sympathise with her. Aria had felt the same way only a month and a bit ago.

"Yes please do Stefan. I've been _yearning_ to have 'feelings' again. The evil witch's curse has forever ruined me, at least until I kiss a frog." Damon frowned and waggled his finger left and right. "Or is it the other way around?"

"I think in your case Damon you'd have to actually give a damn." Stefan's glower was deadly.

Damon quirked his head questioningly. "And how much are those again?"

"There's a two for one sale on at Macy's," Aria informed him helpfully. She wasn't that surprised how quickly Damon had picked up on the fact that Elena _knew_. Although, the girl wasn't exactly hiding it. "Which also happens to be the feeding ground for a shit tonne of vampires."

"Please, the last thing we want for brunch is a bunch of boring idiot shoppers. The real fun prey are those who are willing," at that Damon turned to her. He threaded his fingers through her hair, palm pressing at the back of her neck as though he was going to pull her forward right then and bite her.

Elena rushed forward. "Stop!"

Stefan held her back and Damon turned to snarl at her. His fangs were as sharp as razors and his eyes were surrounded in bulging black veins. Aria was sure he'd just scared the hell out of Elena.

"It's okay." Aria assured her when she realized the brothers were too busy with their staring match. "Damon's just joking around, sort of. We're going to go and get a drink-" Aria strengthened her point by tugging on Damon's arm. "-You two have fun tonight. I'm sure it won't suck at all."

Stefan's jaw clenched when he heard her words. Aria had to admit the whole toying with other people thing was pretty fun. Damon bowed to them as Aria leaded him away, purse tucked under her arm, crystal ball in her free hand. Her other hand was occupied, gripped tightly in Damon's clutch.

"Tell me one thing before we get this ball rolling." Damon stopped her and caught her attention. "What does your magic little thingy majiggy tell you about tonight?"

Aria looked down at her crystal ball, happy to indulge the vampire. She shook it once, waited, then smiled up at him. "Ask again later."

X

They skipped the drinks and went straight to the dance floor. Mainly because Coldplay's Viva La Vida was playing and it wasn't like Aria would pass up a chance at dancing to it with Damon. Once he caught onto her idea he hauled her towards the thriving crowd and she handed over her crystal ball for him to hold.

Damon draws the eyes of everyone around, most laugh but some actually seem kind of _interested_. Quite a few of the girls gave Damon a _look_. Aria mentally groaned, of _course_ Damon could pick up chicks even dressed as a girl.

The setting sun cast shadows across the lot but the lanterns overhead set the space aglow. They merged easily into the dancing throng, finding a spot between a zombie and a magician. Damon waited for her to start leading and Aria raised a brow. "What happened to being the big bad vampire? Letting your _pet_ hold the reigns instead? Dracula would be disappointed."

"Well Dracula never had a beautiful, fortune telling, kick ass human as a pet now did he?" Damon stepped closer and grasped the soft cotton of her robe. He tugged up the hood over her head and his eyes danced across her face. "And on top of all of that, she is an incredible dancer. Please, would you?"

Aria nodded her head, gave him a little smug smile. "I'd love to."

As the fourth verse started up Aria Held both her palms up, facing outwards. Damon eagerly pressed his palms against hers and she quickly closed her fingers over his hand. He did the same, fingers interlocked and woven like the most mystical tapestry. She laughed freely and started pushing and pulling, twisting them back and forth as she shifted her shoulders. The drum beats grew louder and Aria started bouncing on the balls of her feat and soon both her and Damon were jumping up and down, raising their hands in the air as they danced.

The piano came in and Damon pulled her forward and started quick stepping around their space. He held her gaze fervently and together they spun around, feet moving so quickly that Aria was kind of surprised she'd managed to keep up. All the time she felt her smile grow and grow. She found herself laughing again when Damon hoisted her up in his arms and flipped her back over his right arm. A backflip that had her dress fluttering in the gleaming lights, her hood nearly falling off as her hair went wild.

"I wasn't ready for that," she told him, but her laughter diminished any effect of her words.

Damon grinned down at her, and she became aware of the fact that they were barely inches apart. Like before Damon was pressing himself against her, but this time she frowned as she saw the glimmer of hesitancy in his gaze.

Oh dear…

She knew the night had been too good to be true.

"Then you won't be ready for this either," Damon segued oh-so dramatically. His face swarmed with black veins that all fed his new freaky eyes and he snarled deeply as he leaned in to bite her neck. As he drunk deeply from her, Aria spied Stefan and Elena watching over his shoulder. They were both staring with varying levels of disgust showing on their faces.

Damnit, did Damon have to ruin every moment just to piss off his brother?

Aria sighed and resigned herself not to let this ruin her night. She _had_ known he'd come mostly to cause trouble for Stefan. She really wasn't surprised.

When Damon pulled back he didn't even bother to wipe at the blood smearing his chin. Instead he just turned, face still morphed with vampiric features, and grinned at Stefan like a please kid who'd just scored candy on Halloween.

Aria pressed a hand to her bleeding wound, trying her best not to laugh at the truth to her metaphor. Surely she was going delusional from bloodloss.

"Isn't Halloween just your favorite holiday?" Damon asked, but his question wasn't directed at her.

It was hard to make out exactly how pissed Stefan was from this distance, but she was sure he wasn't overly happy. Her pulse thudded against her hand that was quickly becoming slick with blood. Damon hadn't hurt her but he'd certainly fed like a friggin' toddler.

The song was over and Damon didn't look like he cared for dancing anymore. He was still looking over at Stefan, eyes still their more creepier shade. "That was really rude."

He continued his staring match with Stefan, but he responded anyway. "You're mad."

"I'm mad," Aria confirmed.

"You have a right to be mad." Damon glanced at her then and Aria felt her stomach roll at the sight of his cheer outfit. The yellow was completely stained with red. "I'm not apologising."

"I know." Aria was mad, but not really. It stung both physically and emotionally that he'd just bitten her like that, but she had to hand it to him. He had barely drunk a drop from her, most of her blood was smeared on his shirt. He hadn't even really hurt her. It was nice, in a weird, complicated vampire kind of way. "Look I can't keep standing here seeing you covered in my blood. Please tell me you have a change of clothes?"

His face morphed with confusion, enough so that his fangs faded away. Aria could enjoy his absurdly blue eyes again. She scoffed at his reaction and reached into her purse. Aria palmed a couple of kleenexes and handed them over. "What? Do you want me to scream at you and then run off? I'm not that petty. I knew what I was getting into coming out with you tonight, but honestly I'd thought you'd think of something a bit more original than feeding from me in public."

A flash of relief swept across his features before it was quickly replaced by his customary smirk. The sight puzzled Aria. Did he really care for her understanding that much? "You know me. I'm impulsive." He gave her a secretive smile, but his eyes flashed to the wound on her neck. "I think you need these more than I do-" He gave the kleenexes back. "-I'll be right back. Go ahead and get yourself some juice. I'm sure they'll have a sippy cup ready for ya."

He left without hearing the wonderfully creative curse she hissed in response.

X

It wasn't much of a surprise to Aria when Stefan approached her. He settled next to her against the school wall and offered his glass. She smiled and clinked her cup of juice to it happily. "Good to see you again Steffy, without your freshly minted 'sister' around."

"Funny."

Aria shrugged and took a sip of her apple juice. She mourned the fact they didn't have sippy cups. "Where's Elena?"

"Thought it'd be better to speak to you alone. I don't know what Damon's done to you, but for whatever reason you seem to be going along with the whole 'expose the supernatural' thing."

"Exposure?" Aria mocked. "You think that's what Damon wants?"

"No. But at this rate, that's what he's going to get." The poor guy seemed really put upon. Aria figured he probably wasn't as good at seeing through Damon as Aria thought he'd be. She knew she'd have to organise a 'brother bonding day'. Although, if she remembered correctly Stefan would sort of hold one eventually. "I've seen you around school."

"Yes it's almost like I'm a student there or something. What's your point?"

"You're always alone. No friends, I'm guessing." Stefan had a very _very_ intimidating expression on his face. Aria was amused. He wasn't nearly as scary as Damon. As long as he didn't go ripper on her. "So you've got no one to tell you if you're acting weird. No one to tell you if you're doing the wrong thing."

"If you're trying to say I'm being an idiot, you're wasting your efforts." She took another sip of her drink. He was trying to get a read on her. Too bad he could never hope to guess the truth about her. Not even Damon knew _everything_. "I'm a loner, I don't have friends. I know I'm an idiot. Despite all of that, _you_ can't tell me what's right or wrong either when you barely even understand what's going on yourself. The fact that you're even bothering to talk to me right now is proof of that."

Stefan peered at her studiously. Aria felt the awkwardness descending down like a thick fog.

How long did it take for a vampire to change?

"Stefan!" Damon appeared, exclaiming his brother's name like a lover's cry. "Since when did you hang around schools to pick up chicks?" He grinned as he draped his arm around Aria. She was incredibly relieved that he had changed. No longer a girl, Damon donned his normal dark tee and his leather jacket. Jeans to match. She was disappointed by the lack of scrunchies though. No more pretty girl wig. "Oh wait… nevermind."

Stefan offered him an unimpressed, thin lipped smile. "I was just telling…"

"Aria," she supplied.

"Aria here, how she ought to have lunch with us at school instead of hanging out in the library."

Damon quirked a brow and pulled Aria flush against his side. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, and she felt him brush fingers through her hair. "Sounds like fun. Aria can bring snacks, well, she can _be_ the snack."

"Shut it Damon," Aria slapped him playfully. "I'll bring carrot sticks and blood bags.

Damon dipped his head low to whisper in her ear. "He drinks from Bambi, remember?"

"Oh! Right." Aria smiles at Stefan. "I'll bring a bunny instead."

"I'll pass," Stefan dismissed easily.

Damon shrugged. "Suit yourself, Aria was just trying to be polite." He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly and flashed Stefan his signature smirk. "We're going to go and dance the night away, if it's all the same to you."

"Be my guest." Stefan's smile was positively deadly.

Aria happily let Damon pull her away from _that_ situation. He weaved them back through the dancing swarm and found them another spot to have space in. Aria considered the music, _Black Eyed Peas, hell yes_ , then faced him again. "This time you lead."

"I thought you'd never ask." Damon waited for the next verse to start and then he was jumping and raving like a madman. Aria laughed at his ridiculousness but joined him. She let the music get to her and the steady rhythm chorused with the beating of her heart. The music consumed her and Damon was half of her whole in those moments they danced.

X

They took a break from all their dancing around eight. Damon dragged her over to an empty spot and sat down on the cold grass. He stretched his legs out and patted the space next to him. "Sit," he said with a smirk.

"Not without a treat."

Damon chuckled and patted the spot again. "Join me, I have cookies."

"The dark side is a little too cliché for my tastes but I suppose my legs are kind of tired." Aria sat herself down and made sure not to get her dress soiled. It was nice to sit and take the weight of her legs. "You know how we were talking earlier about your subtle messages and such?"

"You mean your theories."

Aria nodded. "Yup. I have a new one about why you're trying to piss off Stefan so much."

"By all means," Damon gestured and leaned back on his hands. He was the epitome of casual.

"First though, I've figured it out, you know. Your message? By making me dress up as a fortune teller, you're showing me that you _believe_ me. That there's not going to be anymore games between us. Maybe it also means that you're going to accept my opinions and suggestions now."

Damon conceded. "Your plan the other day? The one to fix the situation with my brother, it hurt, but so far it's working. I figured you've pretty much proved your worth, so why not give you a little slack?"

"Seems we've both come to the same conclusions."

Aria had more to say though. She doubted it would go down well, but there was no point continuing their pseudo 'almost-friendship'. She'd decided it was her duty to knock some sense into him.

Shit was going to get real. "Let's talk about you and Steffy now."

He dipped his head. "My favorite topic on the board. So what's your theory?"

"I think that your plan is to distance yourself from him in the hope to try and get him to stop caring about you," Aria said in a rush. Better to get it out in the open before she changed her mind. "He already has a huge distrust of you, and I am sure he would try and stop you from making the mistake of opening the tomb. If you weaken your bond with him then he won't try and stop you from leaving when you finally betray him."

"Ah, but why would I bother trying to gain his trust?"

"Maybe you still hope he will help you open the tomb and free Katherine. I don't think you've quite made up your mind yet so you're just having fun while you can." Aria tugged her robe tighter against the biting winds. "You're impulsive."

His only response was another chuckle.

"So, am I right?" Aria asked. She wanted to try and keep up with his plans, if she didn't at least try there was no way she'd survive. "Care to spill a few truths from that brain of yours?"

"I don't really care about Stefan being wrapped around my finger. There's ways to threaten him into helping me and at the end of the day I'd rather annoy him than try and be his new B.F.F." Damon sat up and tilted his head up at her. "Besides, I've got your help to open the tomb."

Aria scoffed. Of course he was still stuck on opening the tomb. "You know my opinion, Damon. Katherine isn't in the tomb so there's no point in opening it. I wish you'd just get off your high horse and realize you've been _rejected_ already. She was _never_ in the tomb."

"If Katherine wasn't in the tomb she would've come to see me."

"No she wouldn't have! She doesn't give a single damn about you, Damon. From the beginning she'd manipulated you. Tricked you into loving her. You were an easy victim for her petty schemes. A bit of fun she had on her cowardly path."

Damon was on her in an instant and Aria was left speechless when he started choking her. _Real mature_ , Aria thought. "What the hell is with you and saying stuff like that? Do you just not have a sense of self-preservation? I _really_ want to kill you right now."

Aria clawed at his grip as it tightened enough to bruise her neck and crush her larynx. Damon didn't appear to be fazed by her struggle though, he just kept applying more and more pressure. His eyes were full of anger and pain, Aria hated to see him in such denial.

"I want to _kill_ you, Aria." Damon's chokehold was too much and Aria felt herself blacking out. He must've noticed this, because the anger snapped from his gaze and he threw her to the ground. She gasped for air, sputtering as her lungs failed to keep up.

Damon watched her struggle with a blank expression. Aria glared up at him.

"Don't look at me like that," Damon said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

She still didn't have enough air in her system to respond so she settled on poking her tongue out at him. Not the best response she could've come up with, surely, but it'd do.

"You're the one who tried to Dr. Phil a vampire." Damon sighed and crouched down next to her. His gaze was calmer now, no longer packing as much rage. "Let's make this simple. You're going to continue trying to convince me that the woman I've loved and awaited for over a century is actually choosing to avoid me. That she, in fact, doesn't love me."

Aria stayed completely still as he wrapped an arm around her and hoisted her up. Her knees were shaky under her but he stayed near her and gave support with a reluctant grimace. She coughed a few times trying to get a sentence out. Eventually she managed a simple, "And you're going to continue being a dick."

Damon saluted her. "Scout's honor."

If Aria had the energy she would've slapped the smirk right off of his stupid face.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._


	8. Chapter 8

**Aww you're reviews are too nice guys- trying to reply to them all through PM- lemme know if you don't like that method {P.S, you reviewed, so u get the next chapter- that's how the author/reader relationship works ( ˘ ³˘)ᵏᴵˢઽ } Enjoy~!**

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Aria woke to the morning sun and the sight of Damon Salvatore staring at her. The night before he'd followed her upstairs and climbed into her bed without saying a word. Aria had been too tired to argue, so she'd just taken a quick shower and then went to sleep. Maybe she was also flat out ignoring him.

She pursed her lips and then turned to glance at the clock. Well… At least it was before midday. "You know the staring thing gets old _real_ quick," Aria mentioned when she noticed he was still gazing at her.

"You were asleep, I was bored, it's a win-win situation. Besides, it's not like either of us has anything better to do." Damon smirked.

Aria sighed and rolled onto her back. "I suppose it is a Sunday."

"Sunday November first, Stefan's birthday."

She blinked. "Oh, right. Forgot. Lexi comes today."

"Lexi? That old bag of bones?"

"Yeah she wants to celebrate Steffy's b'day with him." Aria yawned and massaged her aching neck. She was _definitely_ avoiding mirrors today. "Make yourself useful whilst I change. I need some ice for my neck."

Damon continued to stare at her without a sound.

She rolled her eyes. Of course he was going to be petty about it all. Aria hated herself for not hating him more. She couldn't even let herself be mad at the vampire. He'd nearly choked her to death and what'd she do? Let him sleep in the same bed. Maybe she really had lost her sense for self-preservation, or maybe she was just sick of caring so much all the time.

Either way she was an idiot and if Damon killed her he would probably be assisting the evolution of mankind.

"Fine then, don't." Aria snatched a hoodie from her closet and pulled it on over her head. "If you're going to avoid the birthday boy in my house at least be reasonable."

"Me? Reasonable?"

"Right. What was I thinking ever asking such a thing?" Aria walked through the door and slammed it behind her. Today was not a day in which she wanted to deal with Damon's stupid moods. She ambled down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mother must've gone out already, for there were dishes left over from her breakfast but no sight of her in the living room.

Aria grabbed some ice and a bottle of water before climbing back upstairs. She hesitated outside of her room. Damon probably hadn't relocated and Aria didn't want to face him again.

She opened the door anyway.

Damon wasn't lying on her bed anymore. Aria frowned as she spotted him sat at her desk. There was a moment she considered seeing what he was doing, but she laid on her bed and pressed the ice-pack to her neck instead.

"I can't keep doing this," Aria broke the silence with her thoughts. "I can't live in this in-between anymore. If you want to kill me, kill me. If you want to spend your time toying with me and joking around then do that, but don't fucking _actually_ threaten to kill me!"

"I've always threatened to kill you. That's our thing, isn't it?" Damon stood and carried a bundle of papers with him. He had that cocky expression on his face that just _meant_ trouble. "You and me. I piss you off, try to kill you. You brush it aside like it's nothing. You see me like no one else sees me and it's _annoying_ , but fun."

He held the papers in her face and Aria huffed but took them and browsed through them. It took her a while to catch on, but eventually she recognized key words and looked up at him with surprise filling her gaze. "My history assignment?"

"Done and dusted. Call it payback for the free blood and strangling you allowed me last night."

Aria's mood soured and she let her hands drop, papers thumping against the bed. "You think I _let_ you? Damon, you just took what you wanted and I couldn't stop you. You've got Popeye levels of strength and Roadrunner levels of speed."

"No, you don't get to pin this one on me little missy. You _knew_ what was going to happen, and you did nothing to prevent it." Damon climbed up onto the bed and settled himself next to her. His knees dug into the mattress as he leaned down right into her personal space. "You know me better than anyone. Better than myself."

The words were barely in the air before he was crushing his lips against hers. Aria's cry of surprise was muffled by his lips and the icepack dropped from her grip as she flailed. Her thoughts stuttered to a stop as Damon's mouth moved and danced across her own.

Though, when he reached up to cradle her neck, she found herself kicking him in the groin.

It was clear that her attack hadn't done much damage, but it was enough to make Damon pull back and give her some space. Aria gasped for air in a horrible repeat of her experience the day before. That was the _last_ thing she was expecting him to do, but at the same time it was also the first. What was Damon Salvatore without sexual interaction?

"Consent," Aria spat when she could finally function again. She knew her face must have been heated to hot pink levels in her mortification. "Do you even know what that word means?"

"I was in a moment!" Damon defended as he spun and sat himself down next to her. He kicked his legs on top of hers and laid an arm behind her. "That's the kind of stuff you'd find in 'The Notebook'."

"What?"

He shrugged. "I did your homework, told you that you knew me better than I know myself, then laid one on you. It was _textbook_." His brows furrowed. "Although I don't think you were supposed to damage my goods at the end. Didn't you learn your lines?"

"You are an absolute pig." Aria scowled at him as she picked up her ice pack and held it against her neck again. Damon trying to persuade her with mentions of romance movies and homework help? She wasn't buying it. "You _kissed me_."

"You mean I _totally rocked your world_? Why yes, I did."

Aria pursed her lips. "Seriously Damon…"

"Deny all you want Ari, I'm a vampire. I can tell when someone enjoyed my certain talents. Elevated heart rate, minute spike in core body temperature, not to mention the fact you kissed me back."

Aria let out a small yelp of surprise against her will, unprepared for his last point. "I did not."

"And I bet right now you're _desperately_ wanting to kiss me again," Damon said as he slid one hand up her arm, following it towards her neck. He tutted as his hand reached the ice pack she was holding, and gently he pried it from her. "Leave this for now. I can help with the ache, if you'll let me."

She stared at him and wondered how she ever thought she understood him. Was he trying to charm her into a false sense of security? Perhaps he was trying to compensate for how he'd hurt her. Aria stared into his eyes and tried to figure out _something_ about the vampire before her. His cerulean gems shone with darker emotions, suggestive and flirtatious but at the same time Aria felt like he _was_ feeling a sense of guilt for what he'd done.

That wasn't what she'd expected from him. The sexual taunting and the impulsive, violent tendencies, sure, but concern and regret? Those emotions hadn't even made it on the list. Aria in part attributed that to the fact she still held a large amount of distrust deep inside of her and she never allowed herself to _truly_ hope. Except now he was there with his perfect hands and gentle gaze and Aria didn't know what to say.

"What are you doing?" She finally found herself asking. He wasn't acting in any predictable way, but she knew well how unpredictable he was. The only way she could understand was if he explained. He did _love_ to talk, after all.

"Well I'm trying to do the good guy thing where I don't snap at any minute and try to kill you just because you mention-"

"-Katherine?" Aria spoke with mock innocence.

"Sorry who?" Damon asked and did his best impression of a confused owl.

If his big, blinking eyes were anything to go by.

"Are you going to work some magic with your hands?" Aria grimaced. "I'd really rather not have you touching me anymore than necessary."

Damon tilted his head and looked at her with a hopeful smile. "Please? It'll be worth it and I'll try my best not to have a snack while I'm at it. There are muscles on your shoulders and at the dip of your neck that, if treated right, can alleviate pains in your neck. I can avoid the bruises."

His smile fell and instead his mouth twitched up in sympathy.

Aria sighed and shifted forward to give him room. "Okay, but you better not have to take off my shirt."

Damon smirked as he moved around behind her. "I make no promises."

X

"...So if you can design a poster to put on the display board I'll get it printed. We also need to fold the brochures and organise the information sheets. Your mom's gone out to pick up the forms I need to fill in, for the school, so she won't be able to help until she's back."

Aria had quite a lot of things she'd rather do than help with basic origami but it was nice to hang out with her Dad. He was always a calm, strong presence and it felt reassuring to know he'd always have her back. Unless of course, Damon compelled him.

Or any, random vampire compelled him.

She sighed and started browsing stock images.

X

Damon swung around that afternoon and immediately flopped onto the bed with a force that was entirely unnecessary. Aria picked up on his annoyance straight away. _Damn_ , she thought, _how many times will I have to deal with a pissed off Damon?_

She considered the vampire for a second before grabbing both of their respective novels they'd been reading and joined him. She held out the book towards him but didn't look in his direction, instead she started reading.

After a few minutes he took the book and flipped it open.

"Let me guess," Aria turned her page. "Lexi and Stef?"

Damon scowled. "Yup."

Aria tssked. "Get over it."

A moment later Damon's book thudded against her head.

X

Aria went to school and hated it and she went home and hated that too. Her other self was on a camping trip and she didn't want to stay home and listen to her mother hosting a party downstairs so instead she grabbed her things and headed out.

It was still sunny out, and would be for at _least_ another hour, so Aria decided on the park as her spot for avoiding life's many troubles. She settled down on a bench and plucked out her book. She was lucky that it was a weekday, there weren't as many people walking around and it was pretty easy to focus on her book.

About twelve pages in Aria became distracted. She started thinking about her _shitty_ existence.

There were no friends she could go and complain to about annoying vampires. Her parents were pretty much useless considering they'd been compelled. She was alone and for the first time in a long time she hated it.

She needed friends.

Once the thought was in her head Aria realized it was _stuck_ there. It spun around and around within her mind and new friend-making schemes bloomed to life each moment the idea existed.

As she was juggling a choice between who exactly she wanted to try and befriend, a shadow loomed over her shoulder. She closed her book with a sigh. "Damon."

Although much to her surprise, when she turned around it definitely was _not_ Damon standing there with his cerulean eyes and permanent smirk. "Nope," Logan Fell disagreed as he sneered down at her. "Although, I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Wait, before you kill me… How the hell could you take that as a compliment? Damon is an ass with three holes. He's the worst possible role model you could ever hope to have."

Obviously Logan was hurt by her poor opinion of Damon because in the next second he was flashing fangs at her and doing the whole growling thing that Aria had long since stopped finding scary. "You come with me right now, or I will kill you, and your parents."

"Or you could not do any killing and instead go and live out your immortal life in Hawaii and enjoy the sun and the sand and the—" Logan cut her off by grabbing her shoulder with his newfound vampiric strength and crushing the bones within a fraction of a second. Aria couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped from her lips as there was an audible c _runch_.

It was ten times worse than anything Damon had ever done, physically at least. He'd never proven her fragility quite so acutely. The worst thing was that she knew that the shattering of her acromion was but the first of a long line of things Logan would probably do to her (though how he found out she was in cahoots with Damon she'd never know).

It was just her luck that the list undoubtedly ended with death.

Logan grinned as he pulled his hand back, fingertips stained with blood from where he'd clawed into her flesh. She couldn't feel her arm anymore and Aria felt fear bubble to life in her chest. "You were saying?"

"A-absolutely nothing," Aria stuttered out.

"Good." His grin was primal. "Then let's go."

She hadn't realized how late it had gotten, that the sun had nearly fallen and their world was lit by streetlamps and the passings headlights of automobiles. Aria also became aware of the fact that the park was empty.

Aria did not have enough swear words to properly enunciate how angry she was at her situation. _Whose plan was this again_? Aria asked herself mentally. _Oh right!_ _ **Mine**_.

She had decided that Logan Fell should've been turned. Her hope was that he would serve as a distraction for the council, but it seemed his main purpose was to seek out revenge. _Why the hell were vampires so petty in this town?_

Aria left her bag on the bench and cradled her ruined arm, but not before hitting speed dial 2 on her phone. Logan noticed the cellphone soon enough and snatched it from her hand. He wasn't quick enough though and the call went through. "Help!" Aria shouted. "Logan's got me! I'm in the park!"

He ended the call before she could say anymore. Aria had said enough though and she judged by the fact his fangs were back that he knew he was screwed. "Damn, I'd wanted to take my time with you. I guess I can't do that."

In an instant he was in front of her. Without a moment of hesitation he pierced his fangs into her throat and _ripped_. Aria crumbled to the ground as he vanished. Blood spurted from her wound and pooled around her. The vibrant red substance soaked into her clothes and Aria clamped a hand over the gaping wound in her neck.

At that point her pain was overwhelming. Aria was torn between the ache in her shoulder and the agony from her neck wound. Add onto the fact she was dying from blood loss, her condition was tied off with a neat little red bow.

The world was fading, phantasm dots danced at the edge of her vision. Aria hated the fact that it wasn't even Damon that had left her to die, it was some useless side character that barely lasted an episode on the show. If she _had_ to die she wanted to die at the hands of one of the greats. An Original, perhaps, or one of the Bennetts.

She didn't want to die in a puddle of her own blood in the middle of the park.

It was pathetic, really. Her first time going somewhere other than her school or her house and _this_ is what she gets? A quick bite to her neck and the sight of Damon Salvatore racing towards her.

Wait…

Damon fell to his knees in front of her and cradled her head in his hands. Aria looked up at him, the perfect model for death. "Hey, hey. Don't look at me like that, princess. You're not dying yet. Not since there's still so many questions you haven't answered.

His palms were soon stained with her blood and she stared at him in her final moments. His eyes were the widest she'd ever seen them, filled so entirely with fear and panic that Aria found herself breathless. Or maybe it was the fact she couldn't seem to get her lungs to work anymore.

That should've probably concerned her more, but she was too busy staring at his horror stricken face to dwell on the matter. Instead she watched as he brought his wrist to his mouth and bit down. It took her a while to catch on to what he was planning.

He pressed his now bleeding wrist to her mouth and clenched his fist to draw as much blood as possible. "Drink," he told her. When she didn't move, he shook his wrist in her mouth violently. "Drink! Damn it Aria, fucking _drink_ or I'll compel you to.

Her throat didn't seem to want to co-operate though. She figured Logan must have damaged some of her muscles or something. Aria tried to swallow, God's honest, she did.

Damon was an impatient prick though. His pupils narrowed to pinpricks. "Drink the blood."

His message must have worked better than her own because her muscles started working again and she swallowed down his blood without a second thought. She raised her uninjured arm and curled her fingers around his hand, holding his vein to her mouth so she could drink undisturbed.

The blood trickled down her throat and she relished the feeling of it's healing presence. Within a second her neck stopped bleeding and she felt consciousness return to her mind in a steady stream of thoughts and feelings. Her shoulder stopped throbbing painfully and Damon's panic melted into relief. He sagged towards her, forehead coming to rest against hers.

"I can't believe you called the boarding house," Damon said. Aria drank her fill and released his wrist from lip-lock. Her body felt whole again, though it still seemed her wounds were closing on her neck because she could hear a horrible squelching sound as excess blood was pushed out.

Healing was not nearly as glamourous as it was made out to be on television.

Aria gripped her healed shoulder and tried not to think about how she probably looked like an extra from a slasher movie. "Yeah well… for someone who considers himself a casanova you did a really bad job of giving me your number."

It hurt to speak but Aria didn't give two shits about the pain. She was still reeling over the fact she was _alive_. Damon had _healed_ her, with his **blood**. He'd never done that! Not even when she was bruised and battered from his kidnapping.

Damon didn't laugh like she'd hoped. Aria desperately wanted to relieve the odd tension that had filled the air. "We are going to fix that," Damon promised after a few moments. "Fuck Aria, I'm so glad I answered."

"Me too, to be honest. You know, because if you hadn't I'd be dead right now."

That earned her a smirk, despite it being a little rough on the edges Aria was pretty pleased with herself. "Are you okay?"

Aria nodded and decided to answer in a sincere fashion. "Yes. I'm okay." Damon pulled back to search her gaze for any deception. He nodded after a second, satisfied to see she was telling the truth. "Thank you," she added with a soft smile.

"Let's get you cleaned up. You're starting to smell like dinner."

She scoffed but let him help her up. To her, it felt like something had shifted once more between them. She was suddenly feeling more self-conscious than usual. Was it okay to be holding onto him for support? To hold his gaze for so long? Should she be apologizing for the mess or thanking him again or saving her life?

It wasn't until they made it to his car that she pinpointed what the change was.

There was hope swirling through her body in the form of Damon's blood. The memory of Damon's sheer panic when he'd found her and how he hadn't hesitated to offer his blood… There was no way he could fake that. It was concern, genuine, _human_ concern.

Aria for once knew for certain that his reaction to seeing her dying in a puddle of blood wasn't because he needed her for some master plan.

It was because he cared about her.

Maybe that was why she took extra notice of how he opened the door for her and how he helped buckle her seatbelt despite her protests. She witnessed first hand how he fussed over her and made sure she was securely in her seat before resigning to let her be.

It wasn't exactly in a concerned, frantic manner that one would usually expect. His worry was shown in his usual Damony and arrogant way, all sarcastic jabs and suggestive touches. When he asked, "So does this mean we get to text now and flirt with eggplant emojis?", Aria knew he was just trying to say 'I'm glad you're not dead so I can continue to annoy every day of your existence'.

When he noticed her shirt was torn in just the right place he waggled his eyebrows and wolf whistled, Aria knew he was… well… being a pig.

"Do you mind? I just had a near-death experience."

"Pfft, that was what? Like a whole minute ago. Old news. Want to know the new news?" Damon smirked at her. "You shop at Victoria's Secret."

Aria glowered at him. "Remind me why I wanted to live again?"

"Because I also shop at Victoria's Secret and you can't die without seeing proof of that."

She gawked at him but Damon just clicked his tongue with a smug little smile and shifted gears.

X

They pulled up to her house in record time. Aria wasn't surprised that Damon sped. It was kind of a trademark habit of vampires in every single version of media available. She was feeling a lot better after she had rested on the trip and so when Damon raced around to open the door and help her out of the car she protested the whole time. "You don't have to help me. You're blood's already done more than enough."

"My blood? Don't I get any credit?" Damon didn't let go though. He wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her to the stairs. Aria was relieved that nobody was around to see her because she had no idea how she would explain her disturbing state. _I was volunteering at the hospital and slipped in a puddle of blood, I'm such a clutz_. Aria scoffed, _yeah right_.

"I suppose I can offer you twenty percent credit but thirty is going to my cellphone. the other fifty to your blood." Aria pulled out her keys from her bag. Damon must have grabbed it before they'd left. Convenient. It would have sucked if Aria had to knock. She could hear that the party was still going on and she doubted Damon would have wanted to compel a room full of people.

Now they could just sneak in.

Damon snatched the keys from her hand and unlocked the door himself. Aria rolled her eyes. "Really?" He pulled open the door for her and pulled her inside. "I don't need a babysitter."

"Actually you do. If something happens to you now, you become a vampire. I have enough trouble dealing with my brother, I don't need another bloodsucker to worry about."

Aria poked her head in and checked to see if anybody was nearby. "I haven't died yet in my seventeen years of life. I think I can handle twenty-four hours, Damon."

Without warning she was snatched back from the doorway and Damon pressed them flat against the wall by the door. Aria frowned and poked his arm.

"Someone was nearby. We need to wait." Damon turned and smirked at her. "Without me, you would've just been caught red handed."

Aria scowled at him but didn't make a move to shove his hand off of her. If she were being honest to herself she'd admit that it was comforting to have Damon's presence nearby. She was a big fat liar though so she blamed her leniency on the fact if he weren't holding her up she wouldn't have been able to walk. Her near-death had left her weaker than she'd thought, despite being healed by Damon's blood.

"We good?" Aria asked after a while. She just wanted to get upstairs and take a shower.

"Think so. We move together and keep quiet, okay?"

Aria nodded. It was nice to have Damon ordering her around in a gentle and polite way, rather than just compelling her or threatening her.

He glided inside, not letting go of Aria as they hurried to the stairs and climbed up, the whole time trying to make as little noise as possible. When they reached the landing Aria sunk into Damon's hold, breathless. It had taken a lot out of her to race up those stairs.

"Aria?" Damon asked, voice full of concern.

His worry warmed her heart and she took a few deep breaths before leveraging herself off of Damon and gazing up at him. "I feel kinda lightheaded, sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Let's just get you cleaned up."

Much to her shame, Damon had to help her all the way to the bathroom. He settled her on the edge of the tub and then curled his outstretched fingers in a 'come on' gesture. "Take off your clothes."

Aria balked at him. "Are you kidding me?"

"You can keep your underwear on if it makes you feel more comfortable. Despite what you believe I'm not a perv."

She folded her arms over her chest, protecting her from his sight. "No, you're just a selfish vampire who knows way too much about lingerie. No way am I letting you see me without clothing. I can clean myself up."

"Seriously Aria? If I leave you alone you'll probably slip on the tiles and snap your neck."

"You're faith in my ability to shower is really reassuring," Aria replied.

Damon's lips thinned and she watched as his gaze darkened in a threatening manner. Aria wouldn't let herself be fazed and she challenged his glare with her own. _I fucking dare you to compel me into this,_ Aria thought.

At last he snapped with a growl and spun around to leave. "I'll wait outside."

When Aria heard the sound of defeat in his voice she felt a little guilty, but she didn't trust Damon enough to have him watch over her as she showered. She waited for him to shut the door before prying off her ruined clothes and jumping into the shower.

She washed until the water no longer ran pink and then stepped out to grab a towel.

Only there weren't any towels.

"God damn it, Damon!" She raged and stalked to the door. "Give me back my towels!"

Damon didn't answer.

She clenched her jaw and turned back around as her anger flared. "Real friggin' mature."

Aria managed to find some clothes in the laundry hamper, though there wasn't much to choose from. There was her sweater from a few nights ago and she pulled it on. It reached down to her mid-thigh and it would have to do because there weren't any pants in the hamper. Most of them were folded over the chair in her room.

She tugged down the sweater and held it in place before exiting the bathroom.

The door to her room was open and she hesitated before ducking inside. Aria hoped Damon wouldn't be waiting with a camera.

When she stepped inside something was thrown at her face. It was enough force to send her stumbling backwards and she landed on her ass. "Damon!" She cried as she ripped the towel from her view.

"You said you wanted your towels back." Damon spoke with his back to her. He was sitting at her desk doing God knows what. Aria was relieved he hadn't seen her fall and she stood, wrapping the towel around her waist. "I've now given them back."

"What are you doing?" Aria questioned instead, not bothering to argue with him.

She ducked into her closet to get dressed as he spoke. "Stefan messaged me and wants to organise a play date. Think I should bring my Pokémon collection? I wonder if he has a Gardevoir he'd be willing to trade…"

"Hold on." Aria hurried to pull on her shorts and she stepped out, drying her hair with her towel. "He wants a what?"

"Brother bonding session, from what I can assume." Damon's glacier blue eyes flickered to look at her in question. "Know anything about that?"

"Oh." Aria didn't quite remember the exact details. "I think you guys just have fun but eventually Stefan will ask about Katherine and you'll tell him about the tomb."

Damon blurred from the seat to the bed and he patted the spot next to him as he wiggled into the cushions to get comfy. Aria drew a deep, stilling breath before joining him. It felt weirder for her now, sitting next to the vampire that may have finally found his heart.

"That sounds boring."

Aria shook her head. "You'll make it fun."

He smirked and gave her a short nod. "Indeed I will." He must have noticed how her eyes were beginning to droop, posture slacking in her fatigue. "You should get some rest."

Aria stared at him and searched his eyes for some sign of what he was thinking. It was getting harder and harder for Aria to get a read on Damon the more he deviated from the character she knew. Every advantage she had was slowly being ruined because of her involvement in his undead life.

Too bad she couldn't find it in herself to care anymore.

"Are you going to stay?" She asked in a hushed voice.

Damon gave her a small smile, the one she saw so rarely. It wasn't one of his arrogant tells she'd grown used to, it was something soft and gentle. Aria didn't understand how the expression could fit so well on his face.

"Until I get bored, sure."

Aria felt a grin bloom on her face. "That's as good of an answer as I'm gonna get." She turned and switched off the bedside lamp. "G'night, Damon."

His quiet voice breached the silence of the night and carried over to Aria in her semi-conscious state. "Sleep well, Princess."

X

The morning came, and with it, the squawking of a crow. Aria bolted upright at the sound. It had come from somewhere nearby. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and tried to clear her vision. The spot next to her was empty. _Damon must have left,_ she realised. Aria slipped out of bed and hugged a loose blanket to her as she padded across the floor.

Both of her windows were open, except Aria couldn't see any sign of a bird outside in the trees.

Another squawk sounded and Aria spun around so quickly she nearly tripped. She looked around her room frantically, then finally she spotted the damn thing. A crow sat perched on the cabinet by the door. It tilted its head when she caught its gaze.

"Wait…" Aria was pretty sure any normal crow wouldn't just fly in and sit there. She approached the creepy thing, and sure enough there was a folded sheet of paper under its foot with her name written on it in a cursive scrawl.

With slow movements she reached out to slide the note from under the bird's weight. It shifted and lifted its leg when her hand got close. "Oh, thanks." As the note was freed the crow seemed to squawk in happiness and Aria laughed. "You're a much cuter babysitter than Damon," she told it and earned herself another squawk.

Aria sent it another smile before turning her attention to the note. She folded it open and read.

 _Dear Aria,_

 _Stefan promised free alcohol. Alcohol (is greater than_ ) _You._

 _I left my crow to make sure you won't die._

 _Seeya,_

 _Damon_.

Her smile grew as she read it. His message was perfect and she tucked it in her drawer to keep. It joined the other one that had the 'XOX' on it. Jesus, she was such a stalker.

The crow stayed on the cabinet as she grabbed her beeping phone. _Damon must have brought it upstairs,_ Aria thought as she unlocked it.

She had four messages from a new contact that she didn't recognise.

 **BuffyTheVampire**

 **Yesterday** 11:57 PM

 _So I added my number to ur phone. commence_

 _with the emojis_

 **Today** 1:32 PM

 _How r u not awake yet? JFc_

 **Today** 2:44 PM

 _Ok first good morning sleeping ugly, good 2 c_

 _u made it thru the night. 2nd wtf r u flirting_

 _with my crow? ur supposed ot be sending ME_

 _the eggplant emojis gdammit. third, i totally_

 _s_ _aw u save the note. finally, help me_

 _stefan is so boringggggggggg! -.-_

.

 _O btw the crow gets hungry. make sure u feed it_

 _._

Aria sighed at Damon's antics. She sent him a poop emoji and then turned to the crow.

"Damon, I'm guessing you can hear this. Of course Stefan's boring, his heart isn't in it. He really just wants to know your plan. Enjoy whatever you can get. Also, how the hell did you put your number into my phone?"

It was a few minutes before her phone buzzed.

 **BuffyTheVampire**

 **Today** 2:55 PM

 _Basically Stef-Stef's using me. great. nd_

 _i added it in when u were asleep u sleep_

 _like the dead and trust me, i'd know._

 _also if you keep sending me poop emojis_

 _im blocking you._

 _._

 _AND STOP TALKING TO THE CROW! ur_

 _amazing voice is wasted on him, even if_

 _i can hear u second hand it's not worth it!_

 _._

 _Don't you have homework to do or_

 _something? ffs stop making doe eyes_

 _at my bird._

 _._

She enjoyed the influx of messages and when they stopped she turned to the crow again.

Aria quirked a brow at it. "Jealous?" She asked.

Her phone buzzed. She checked it. A smirk emoji, accompanied by ' _maybe just a bit'_.

Aria felt herself blush and she quickly turned around.

 _This was getting out of hand_ , she told herself and dived back into bed.

Her phone buzzed but she didn't check it.

It was too little too late that she realized Damon now had a way to torment her from a remote distance.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._ (The formatting for this chapter did NOT want to co-operate, hope it turned out okay)

{AN: **Sorry guys,** (greater than) **symbol won't work on FF** }


	9. Chapter 9

**Holy crap guys, we've broken 1k hits! Thank you all so much! (and for your reviews, a kiss! ( ˘ ³˘)ᵏᴵˢઽ) Enjoy~! (P.S I too am enjoying the Daria fluff)**

 _(Yet again the formatting did not want to co operate, you can't friggin' right align on this site + can't leave double line breaks. Hope the texts were still readable. Received messages - left, sent messages - center)_

* * *

Damon had no idea what he was doing anymore. He's still had plans and was making new ones up every day, but Aria was changing all of that. If it were a normal situation, Damon would've just upped and moved on if something was going wrong. Too bad the thing that was going wrong was a _girl_ and the girl happened to make him _happy_.

Which was weird for Damon. Most of the time Damon found humans annoying. They were whining, weak, _pathetic_ things and he was superior to them. Damon viewed most humans as his next meal, that had been his way for a long time.

It was basic nature. He was the predator and they were the prey, bodies filled with blood that he could overpower with such ease. It wasn't Damon's choice to become this creature, but he'd learned to live with it, learned to _thrive_.

Damon had lived more than a century wanting only one girl… Only now he wanted another one.

He wasn't sure which he was more mad about, the fact he was falling for a human or the fact he'd let himself be so stupid. Damon should've killed Aria the first night he met her. If he had, then he wouldn't know what she looked like when she was laughing, or how she had such an incredible ability to understand him. He'd never have known about her auburn hair that burned bright under the sun, shining with honey streaks that only added to her addictive sweetness. Damon would've never seen her overconfident because of her future knowledge, the way she could hold herself together in the most dire of situations, even when he caused her physical pain.

If her neck had been snapped on that very first night Damon would have never seen her as she laid dying in a pool of her own blood. He wouldn't have felt the overwhelming urge to _protect_ , to _save_ , to be a **hero**. To be _her_ hero.

Alas, he did not kill her. Though he _had_ captured her, drank from her, tortured her and threatened her. Still she saw through him. Made him feel crappy about the shit he'd put her through in the most passive aggressive way possible- by not asking for his apology. It was like she'd forgiven him.

Damon had felt so fucking weak when she'd seen how Stefan and Lexi had affected him. Then, she'd seen right through his bullshit and put up with his inappropriate ways of making sure she was okay. Damon _wasn't_ a gentlemen, he hadn't been for a long time.

Despite that fact, Aria had still taken all of his jabs and suggestive remarks with a beautiful smile- her plump lips curved and pearlescent teeth shown in all of their glory. Damon had been partly dazed when he'd helped her home. His mind was on constant replay, the memory of her in the park on the ground with a gaping wound in her neck and- ...The image was burned into his eyes and Damon was unhinged.

He had seen plenty of wounds like the one Aria had suffered because, duh, he was a vampire. Most of them he'd done himself. When he saw such a wound on Aria though, it was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. It was almost like he'd _shared_ her pain, felt as her life slipped through his fingers. To him, the thought of giving her his blood didn't even need consideration. Once the idea had popped into his mind he had carried it out.

Now as he drove back to her house he was analysing the events leading up to Logan's attack. It had been Aria's idea to turn the local star, but Damon had been the one to carry out the deed. When she'd laid out the plan it'd sounded like a good idea.

Damon thought it was obvious now that the plan had been a fucking mess.

Neither of them could have known she'd get hurt and Damon was _trying_ not to blame himself.

His day with Stefan had been sorta-kinda fun. There were a few boring spots though where he had time to check in with his crow. Once reassured she wasn't dead, Damon had stopped watching but continued to think about her all day.

Now he was climbing back through her window.

He was doomed.

Aria was by the door feeding his crow. Damon smirked and snuck right up behind her. It was an incredible relief to hear her strong heart beat, a comforting sign of good health. The night before, when she'd laid dying, Damon had heard her heart's last few pulses right before his blood had healed her.

The sound would be the backing track to a whole bunch of his nightmares from now on, yay, fun.

"What are you doing to my bird?"

Aria jumped, heart rate piquing in her fright. "Damon… Jesus."

"I think you're treating the crow better than you treat me. Why don't I ever get hand fed peanuts?" He held out his arm in front of the crow and it clacked its beak before hopping on. Damon brought it up to his face and focused on its obsidian peepers. "Go and wait by the house. Keep an eye on Stefan."

He then moved to the window and stuck his arm out. The crow glanced one last time at Aria before flapping off. Damon shook his arm out and turned back to Aria.

"I named him, by the way." Aria plopped herself down on the bed, hands slipping behind her head. Damon let his eyes wander over her form, admiring the sleek tone of her tawny brown skin. "His names Carc."

Damon frowned. "But Carc was a raven."

"Same difference," Aria turned to look up at him, ochre eyes shining with _life_. "He was a total badass, plus he was smart. Carc is smart. He knows how to play the piano."

"Really?"

"No." Aria paused. "Though I'm sure if you compelled him he'd be playing Chopin in no time."

"Yes well, with his two talons he I'm sure he could master the six eight tempo."

Aria chuckled and scooted over to make space for him. Damon propped himself against the headboard and held out his arm so there was space for her to rest against his chest. She eyed him warily. "Come on," Damon waggled his brows. "You know you wanna."

Damon noticed the way her breath hitched, how she edged ever so subtly towards him. She _wanted_ to curl against him, let him cuddle her against his chest, but he could see in her eyes she was holding herself back. "It's either this or another kiss," he taunted.

"Okay but only because I need to tell you something and it'll be better if I can pin you down with one of my awesome hugs." She skirted back and tucked herself against him, all the while Damon was revelling in his small victory. Who cared if she had something bad to say? He wasn't letting anything ruin the moment.

He felt way too smug having her in his arms, but Damon had finally found someone that interested him. It was a rare feat for a vampire. Even more rare for him in particular.

"So? What is it that's going to require you to restrain me with a hug?"

Aria gnawed her bottom lip for a moment before blurting out her reply. "I think I should tell Bonnie about vampires, it would be good to get her on our side. She's a Bennett witch and one that will grow to be very powerful in the future."

Damon blinked. A flare of jealousy surged up inside of him and Aria must have noticed his shift in mood because she pressed a palm flat against his chest. He scoffed mentally, like she could hold him back. "No way," Damon said. "No way! I am _not_ letting you cosy up to the friendly neighbourhood witchy-witch," Damon was sure the added effect of spirit fingers at the mention of witches would persuade her.

He was wrong. "No seriously Damon," she pressed against his torso so she could twist and capture his gaze. "If we get her on our good graces now, imagine how easy it will be to get her help opening the tomb."

"I thought you didn't want me to open the tomb. Did my charm finally win you over?"

"I just think it would be a good idea." Well, Aria hadn't _denied_ his words. "You won't even have to interact with her, I could do it all myself, I just wanted your opinion."

Damon hummed and settled back deeper into the pillows. He had to admit, Aria's idea wasn't all that bad. It would be nice to get Sabrina the Teenage witch on his side, especially if she could help him get the tomb open. Though, that would mean sharing his toy and Damon didn't like sharing. "What happened to you wanting to stay out of all the supernatural drama?"

"You wanna know the truth?" Aria asked. Damon nodded, he wanted to know as much as he could about the girl, to understand the one person that had intrigued him in a long time. "I recently had a revelation, I have no friends, not even any acquaintances. My life has been one big charade and now I have a chance to make an informed choice. No more of my mom's 'friends' who turn out to be massive bitches, now I can pick people who I know I can get along with. Maybe they come with a bit of magical mojo, but I mean… I dunno, Damon."

Damon studied Aria, he saw as she ducked her head and how her breaths became ever-so shaky. _This was really affecting her_ , Damon realized. He winced as he sensed her grief and tugged her closer to him, nuzzling his nose into her silken auburn hair. "You're lonely. You're hurting. That's a bad mind-space to make decisions in."

"Pfft. Like you can talk."

"Yeah… true." Damon decided not to try and council her. He had no business giving life advice to young girls. He was the one people warned _against_. Bad boy, abusive, still living with his parents… Damn, he wasn't all that appealing in reality.

Then again, who was he kidding? He was _irresistible._

"Look, go talk to Bonnie, just don't let her know what an asshole I am." No point in her finding out sooner than she had to. Damon wasn't one to hide his reputation for being a dick, but he'd come to learn first impressions were important. Why not let Aria talk him up a little bit? Maybe he could even listen in to their conversation. He was sure it'd make a good drinking game, take a shot every time the words 'witch', 'vampire' and 'hey, at least Damon's got a nice ass' were mentioned.

Damon knew well of his redeeming features. As one rather raunchy blonde had mentioned, 'you could bounce a nickel off his ass'.

Aria quirked a brow. "You want me to give you a good rep? It'll cost you. I don't like lying."

"Mmm and what will it cost me?" Damon murmured in her ear, lips brushing against the sensitive flesh. Much to his confusion, Aria flinched away from him and shifted in discomfort. So that kinda stuff was a big no for her… Damon had already suspected that, now he'd confirmed it. But why? He couldn't figure it out. She'd enjoyed his kiss, it just didn't make sense to him.

She shook her hair forward as a means to cover her ears. Aria didn't try to get away from him though, and her heart rate was still steady. So it wasn't _him_ either, he'd understand if she was disturbed by him, considering how he'd been treating her, but she wasn't.

"How about a pizza?" Aria offered at last. "Hawaiian's my favourite, but four cheese is just as good. Or if you get me the ingredients I can make one myself."

Damon smirked. "Sounds fair."

"Good." Despite her decision, Aria didn't make a move to leave.

He peered at her. She seemed pretty happy to just sit, wrapped up in his arms for all of eternity. "Not gonna go befriend the witch yet?"

"Nah," Aria smiled a little. It was the cutest smile he'd seen on her face to date. "This is nice."

Damon couldn't help but agree, though of course, he'd never tell her.

X

The door opened with barely a sound. "Uh… Hey Aria."

Aria smiled at Elena, laying on the charm. "Mind if we talk for a sec?"

It was clear Elena wouldn't turn her away. She had far too much compassion. Aria was but a 'victim' of a modern day Dracula, there was no way Elena was going to say no. "Yeah, sure." Elena stepped out through the door and shut it behind her. "What's up?"

"Do you know that your friend, Bonnie, is a witch?"

Elena frowned. "What?"

"I was wondering if you could introduce us."

Aria could imagine the things going through her mind. Did she think Aria was being forced into this by Damon? Did Elena suspect her of foul play? Either way Aria wasn't going to let this interfere with her plan. She _would_ make this stupid, petty, crazy world better.

It had been a revelation that had surprised her. Aria was lazy, and trying to stop a shit ton of death and destruction? Well it was a lot of work. Too bad she had made her mind up.

 _For Damon_ , Aria had told herself. Maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome, but Aria had grown to care for the impulsive prick. "You want to meet her? Why?"

Her suspicious tone shone through and Aria tripled her meekness factor. Shy, hesitant, kind- three attributes that would help her gain Elena's trust. "Well I was hoping to tell her about her heritage, how she's destined to become a great witch. I want to make sure she knows about vampires and that she can trust them… well, some of them."

"You want to tell her about vampires?" Elena's eyes narrowed to slits. "What do you think that's going to accomplish? It's only going to bring her more trouble than she needs right now."

Aria shrugged. "Better she know now before she's brought into this because of her destiny, rather than let her find out the hard way. Bonnie is going to grow to be very powerful, and a lot of supernatural creatures are going to want to use her. She deserves to know."

"She shouldn't have to know."

"It's our duty to her. _We_ know, and she _should_ know. We're the best ones to tell her."

Aria knew she was losing Elena when she crossed her arms in a tight barrier around her, a gesture that signified shutting Aria out. "I barely know you Aria, besides, I am _not_ telling Bonnie about vampires."

"You're refusal to acknowledge the situation is going to get her hurt." Aria stared at Elena. She wasn't too surprised, but still she found it hard to believe that Elena would risk her friend like this. The danger of Bonnie not knowing about vampires could lead to her being compelled or lured into becoming a blood bag. Aria knew the horror of those results all too well, and she'd be damned if she would let it happen to Bonnie.

The witch hadn't been her favorite character on the show, but she was still powerful and thus useful to her and Damon. Aria felt a little disturbed by that thought, it was so… conceited.

God, Damon _continued_ to ruin her moral values.

"I think you should leave," Elena said as she reached behind her and twisted the door handle. "I don't want you here aiming threats at my friends."

"I'm not threatening anyone, it's just the truth." Aria stepped back as Elena pulled open the door and scampered inside. The door shut with barely a thud, but the meaning was clear. Aria had been told _no_.

Too bad she didn't need Elena's permission.

X

Aria was humming happily whilst she put away her clean laundry. Everything was going good for her at that moment. Her other self would be returning to her home the next day, which meant better netflix and free popcorn. To add to that, she'd finally finished all of her assignments.

She folded her off-shoulder sweater and tucked it into her drawer, then stuffed in her last few tanks and her chore was done. Aria nodded in approval of her work before settling on her bed to watch a movie on her laptop.

Her father had gotten her into The Dark Knight series, so she needed to watch the second movie. Her world didn't have the last movie in the trilogy, but that wouldn't be a problem when her other self got home.

Before she started up the film, Aria checked her phone for any new messages from Damon, or Bonnie. The witch had insisted upon having Aria's number and it wasn't like she could say no, considering Aria _had_ been the one to reveal the existence of vampires to her.

"Why text when we can talk in person, Sexy?"

Aria turned startled eyes onto Damon, who was laying next to her on the bed, head propped up with his right elbow and smirk plastered on his face. "Stop doing that!" Aria complained in her surprise. "And don't call me sexy, that's just weird."

"You weren't complaining when I called you Princess, interesting." He flipped onto his back, kicked off his shoes and sat with his back against the wall. "Also, spooking you is the best part of my day. You look like a kid who just figured out it was a bad idea to watch Teletubbies in the dark."

Aria chose not to comment on his first statement. "Teletubbies? Really?"

Damon quirked a brow. "Be honest, you totally had a fear of Tinky Winky."

"You know their names," Aria said in a bland tone. "I don't know what's more sad, quoting Rihanna lyrics or naming characters on a kid's show."

"Kid's show, for sure. Especially when you factor in my age. So how did your talk with baby Glinda go? Is she going to free the munchkins from the sweatshop factory? What've you got against cheap, knock-off, Louis Vuittons?"

"Slavery is a serious issue Damon, which explains why you're joking about it. _Yes_ I spoke to Bonnie, and don't worry, I protected your delicate 'evilness'. You're a bonafide anti-hero now." Aria pitched her voice a little higher and waved her hands around. "Oh Damon's amazing! He's so cool! He saved my life and did my homework!"

"Damn right I did. Expect your bill in the mail within the next six to nine working days."

Aria scoffed. "I also mentioned the fact you've finally kicked your murdering-addiction after some intense rehab. It's important that on your road of murderers-anonymous you let those around you know what's going on."

"You told her I've killed people? Aria were you even listening to me when I asked you to give me a _good_ reputation?" Damon pursed his lips in thought. "I guess I'm just going to break my clean streak and snap Bonnie's neck. Start over, find a new witch. There's already too many of them running around. Maybe I'll adopt one from the local brewing cauldron."

" _That's_ why I told her, because she better know you're a vamp with a history of homicide in case you ever, oh I don't know, impulsively kill someone in front of her?"

"You're right." Damon's sudden grin worried Aria. Random grins from Damon were never a good sign. He shook his head as though to clear a thought and reached out to grab her hand, studying it with his striking, cerulean eyes. "I coerced your parents into inviting me inside, but you let me into your room- despite knowing I was a killer. Not that you _needed_ to invite me in, I could get in anyway, but explain that to me. Are you just that stupid? Do you have a death wish? You didn't even _try_ to lock me out, even though I'm sure you know a few ways to do so."

Aria grimaced. His words struck home, she'd been wondering lately why she… _trusted_ him so much. Where had her fears for death gone? Her natural suspicion of his actions? Lately she'd treated him… almost like a― Like a friend.

Then with the kisses and the not-so-subtle touches and the way he _looked_ at her sometimes… Aria was so fucing confused.

"I don't know," Aria answered in truth.

"Hmm."

She tried to catch his gaze, but his focus was glued to her hand. Aria glanced at her hand, and then her laptop still waiting on her lap. "Hey, wanna watch The Dark Knight with me?"

Aria had no idea where her question came from. The idea of watching a movie with Damon? If she were honest with herself, she kind of liked it. Damon was funny and wise, his presence by her side was always comforting in a surreal kind of way.

She wouldn't admit that though, so she defended her offer; If she'd let him leave he might've gone and killed Bonnie.

"I'd rather not watch one of this decades movies. Film was better back in the eighties."

"What if I promise popcorn?"

Damon nodded. "Then you have yourself a deal."

"Good. The bags in the cupboard, second shelf, I'm sure you can follow the instructions on the back."

He was not amused by her response.

Aria smiled and switched on the laptop. "Then I guess we're not having any popcorn. Could you switch off the light please?"

Damon was once again, unamused.

"You'd think with all your extra vampire speed you wouldn't have a reason to be so lazy." Aria huffed and opened the movie. She quickly tweaked the speaker settings- normally she'd use headphones but if Damon was watching with her then that wouldn't be an option. Then again, with vampire hearing it probably wouldn't make much of a difference to him.

She was pondering the struggle of finding good noise-cancelling headphones when the lights suddenly switched off. Aria's head whipped around to the side and saw Damon throwing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Holy shit, Damon, did you just run out and buy that?" Aria stared at the tub of popcorn, the kind of thing you'd buy from a cinema. "I only turned around for like… a _minute_."

Damon's smirk grew as he just shoved more popcorn into his mouth. When she glared at him he chucked a few kernels at her. _Eloquent response._

"So?" Damon said with a quirked brow. "You going to start the movie, or what?"

Aria grumbled an obscenity under her breath, but started the movie anyway.

"Hey, keep talking like that and you won't be getting any of this." Damon tilted the tub toward her. Aria studied him carefully before reaching out to grab some of the popcorn.

She was sure he'd pull the food away at the last minute, or bite her hand off, but she managed to grab some popcorn without trouble.

 _Huh_ , Aria thought and plopped the snacks into her mouth as she turned back to watch the movie. _Maybe this won't be an absolute train wreck_.

X

Aria realised about half-way through the movie that she'd inadvertently forced Damon to stick around and watch a movie with her- kind of like a date.

She blamed Damon's inappropriate kiss for that odd thought and went back to enjoying Damon's sarcastic comments about the horrible design of Batman's mask.

X

At school the next day, Aria was grabbing stuff from her locker at lunch when someone walked up behind her. "Hey, Aria?"

"Bonnie," Aria greeted, surprised to see the girl standing before her. They'd barely interacted at school. Maybe this was about something else. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah I was just hoping… do you mind if I join you for lunch today? I just have a bunch of things I need to get off my chest and you're pretty much the only one who'll understand."

Aria shrugged and shut her locker, she couldn't think of any reason to say no. "Sure, but I normally hang in the library. You wanna find a spot on the field? The Library's probably not a place to be talking about supernatural stuff."

"True. Thanks, Aria."

Realizing Bonnie wasn't going to lead the way, Aria started heading to the exit. They made idle chit-chat about the upcoming careers night as they walked. Aria admitted that she still had no idea what she wanted to do after school, and that because of all the weirdness that'd been happening in the past few months she hadn't had time to consider it.

Bonnie sympathised with her, talked about her own dramas with wanting to be a nurse. It was nice for Aria to connect with another kid her age, and she found herself growing to like Bonnie. She was kind, empathetic and compassionate- qualities that were of great importance to Aria.

"Here good?" She asked as they reached the base of a tall beech tree. Bonnie nodded, and Aria settled herself on a patch of downy grass. The witch sat across from her with a contented sigh.

Aria admired the scenery for a few moments. Fresh air was in short supply, considering how much time she spent in her room. When she turned back to face Bonnie, the girl was smiling at the sky in a tender manner.

It sucked to ruin the moment, but lunch only lasted so long. "What'd you want to talk about?"

"Oh," Bonnie glanced back at Aria, embarrassed smile making its way onto her face. Aria had to conceal a grimace when she noticed the naivety to the girl before her. _Her_ Bonnie had yet to face the challenges that would come her way and forge her into an incredible person. "I talked to my Grams. We started working on some basic spells, want to see?"

Aria gestured for her to go ahead and Bonnie snatched up a few leaves and stacked them in a pile. "Okay, watch this." Bonnie's excitement was infectious and Aria found herself leaning closer to watch the leaves.

After a few moments of silence, the leaves went flying into the air. Aria gaped in awe and let out a gleeful laugh as the leaves danced around her in a wondrous display of magic. "This is so freaking _cool_ ," she said as Bonnie directed her magic, sending the leaves swirling around them both. "Wow Bonnie!"

"I know, right?" She giggled as she reigned back in her magic. Bonnie caught a leaf just before it hit the ground and twirled it in her fingers. "You were right, Aria. I _am_ a witch. Grams says if I keep practicing I might be able to perform even better spells. Can you imagine?"

"I sure can." Aria found amusement in how truthful her statement was. She had seen Bonnie's more complicated spells on television, after all. "It's really impressive."

"I was thinking maybe… Seeing as you know so much about all of this, you could help me with something. I want to tell my friends about this, because it's so big and I can't possibly keep it to myself. I'd like to show Elena this spell, maybe Caroline too. Do you think that would be a good idea?"

"Bonnie…" Aria worried her bottom lip. She didn't want to hide things from Bonnie, that wouldn't help her earn the witches trust, but she also didn't want to out Elena's secrets so soon either. Aria had told Bonnie about Damon and Stefan, just not about Elena and her part in all of it. "Look, Elena already knows about vampires."

"She does?"

"Well she _is_ dating Stefan. She got curious, figured it out."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

Aria winced. "I did ask her to tell you, so I wouldn't have to." Bonnie's face fell at her admission, and Aria hurried to explain. "She wanted to protect you, Bonnie."

"By what? Keeping secrets? We're best friends, I didn't hide the whole freaky witch thing from her but she- She's acting like nothing's going on. You'd think she would tell me."

Aria knew a lot of things about Mystic Falls, one fact she knew for sure was that Elena was a _good_ friend. Aria wasn't about to let this secret tear Bonnie and elena apart. _Fuck_ , Aria though, _so much for not getting involved_. "Think about it this way, Elena knows what it's like to lose someone. If she told you about vampires and put you at risk like that, then she'd never forgive herself if you got hurt."

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "I can't see it that way. All that I know is that she lied to me, and I'm not sure what to do about that."

"Look, let me talk to her, tell her that you know everything now… Maybe that will encourage her to speak with you."

Bonnie's lips thinned, but she conceded. "Alright."

"Thanks. I'm sure you two will sort it out." Aria breathed a sigh of relief. As Bonnie thought over the news, Aria pulled out her phone to check if Damon had responded to her earlier message.

 **BuffyTheVampire**

 **Today** 8:17 AM

 _I want u to meet Bonnie this afternoon. Think_

 _it would be good for the both of u. Prove u_

 _r a fanged friend not foe._

 _._

 **Today** 9:10 AM

 _You want me 2 meet the Bennett witch? is_

 _this some kind of friendtervention._

 _and okay. ill bring my best set of fangs so_

 _u guys can admire my amazingness and_

 _compliment my appearance like real_

 _gal-pals_

 **Today** 11:37 AM

 _(=,..,=)_ _\- look a fang emoji see arent u_

 _glad we can text now_

 _._

Aria snorted with laughter and quickly tapped a reply.

 **Today** 1:22 PM

 _ok ill ask her. brng the bedazzled ones they_

 _will def impress her_

 _._

 _( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

 _._

Aria locked her phone and slid it back into her pocket, then she glanced up. "Bonnie?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled and lowered her voice ever so slightly. "How would you like to meet Damon?"

X

Bonnie had managed to survive a pretty crazy weekend. Initially, she'd been confused when Aria had stopped by and asked to talk. It wasn't like Bonnie didn't know the girl, they'd had their casual greetings every now and then, mostly when they passed through the halls. It was hard not to know every new student when Caroline Forbes was your best friend.

When she'd first spotted the girl, Bonnie couldn't help but notice how sad she seemed. It hurt Bonnie to see someone walk through the halls, alone and hurting, but it wasn't like she made it easy for anyone to connect with her. Bonnie had tried to befriend the girl pretty early on, but then Caroline had explained how Aria had acted when Care went to the new girls house.

So that's why Bonnie had backed off when Aria made it clear she didn't want to be friends.

It was quite a change that she was now heading over to the same girl's house, the girl that had told her to 'fuck off' with her eyes and brushed her off with her words. Now Aria was sharing secrets with her and even _helping_ her to become a witch.

Aria had a plethora of knowledge. She knew spells and facts about Bonnie's ancestors. Aria told her about Emily Bennett and how she was a witch who helped both humans and vampires. She explained how you could keep a balance between protecting creatures of the night and helping mankind defend against them.

Thanks to Aria, Bonnie now had another person to idolise, and perhaps even learn from- _if_ she could find the grimoire Aria had told her about.

Bonnie had only asked Aria once about her knowledge, but all the girl had said was she had visions, kind of like the things Bonnie herself saw. Though, Aria had insisted she wasn't a witch.

It was something to puzzle for later, right now, she was going to meet a vampire.

She parked behind Aria and climbed out of her car. The house seemed empty, and Bonnie followed Aria as she unlocked the front door and stepped inside. "Come on in. Mom's out and Dad's working at his office late tonight, so we've got the place to ourselves."

"Your place is lovely," Bonnie complimented as she slipped off her ballet flat and entered the house. The hall itself was extravagant, paintings and vintage furniture lined the walls, and from what she could make out the living room was much the same.

"Mom likes to decorate, she's kind of a party animal so upholding her reputation in all areas is extremely important to her. Want some food or something before we head upstairs?"

Bonnie smiled, grateful for the offer. "Some water would be nice. What kinda food?"

"We can pig out with chips or there's normally a stock of fruit in the crisper." Aria pulled open the fridge whilst Bonnie looked at the display case in the corner. There were some pictures of Aria, but most were of what Bonnie assumed were Aria's parents. "Aha!" Aria suddenly exclaimed. Bonnie turned to see her holding a plate of chicken skewers. "Leftover from last night. Interested?"

"Hell yes, I love chicken."

Aria beamed at her. "You are speaking my language. Chicken is the food of life." She put the skewers in the microwave and set the timer. Once she was done she joined Bonnie by the cabinet. "Ah yeah," Aria smiled as she pointed at one of the pictures. "That's when my parents went to Spain, and this one is when they went to Bali. They brought back a bunch of really cool shirts from there, for me."

"And this one?" Bonnie asked as she pointed to a picture of Aria and another girl.

"Oh that's Ash, she's from back home… well, my old home. We were best friends."

Bonnie began to ask a follow up question, but the microwave beeped and Aria went to get the food. "Ouch hot." She dropped the plate onto the bench, shaking her hands against the steam. "Mmm, but it smells good."

"Where's your serviettes?" Bonnie asked as she skirted around the bench and started searching cupboards, wanting to help. Aria pointed out the correct one and Bonnie opened it. She grabbed the napkins and brought them over. "They do look good."

"They're honey soy," Aria picked a few up and placed them on a separate napkin. "Help yourself, I'mma grab us some water real quick."

Bonnie nodded. She grabbed one by the skewer and took a bite. The chicken was a little dry from being left overnight, but Bonnie hummed at the taste. "Yup, these are perfect."

"Bottle or glass?" Aria pursed her lips. "Screw it, I'll treat you." She pulled out two bottles of water and set one down in front of Bonnie, her own she tucked in the crook of her arm as she took a bite of one of her skewers. Aria chewed for a bit, and then nodded her approval. "About as good as they were last night. nine outta ten, would reheat again."

Bonnie chuckled at her new friend. She was enjoying getting to know Aria, figuring out what the girl was like outside of school. As they ate bonnie asked Aria about simple things like her favorite T.V. show and what subjects she was doing. It made it easy to fill the silence while they ate, and Aria seemed to enjoy the conversation as much as Bonnie did.

When she ate her fill Bonnie finished it off with a sip from her bottle of water. Aria had finished before her, and Bonnie envied her ability to chow down on food so quickly. They talked as they cleaned the dishes and Bonnie found herself beginning to grow anxious. Aria had told her about Damon and how he was supposed to be…. not nice, and she was going to meet the guy soon?

Once they'd finished Aria pointed upstairs and smiled. "Ready?"

"Not really," Bonnie answered in truth with a nervous sigh.

Aria chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Damon's harmless, like a snarling kitty that threatens to hurt you but he won't." Her smile turned to a frown. "Well, at least he wouldn't kill _you_."

Bonnie startled in surprise. "What's that supposed to mean?

They were halfway up the stairs when all the lights suddenly switched off. Bonnie yelped in surprise, looking around wildly. "What the hell?"

"Stop being dramatic, Damon." Bonnie heard Aria complain.

 _Oh? So it's Damon playing around?_ Bonnie was reassured by her friend's words.

Hands closed around her arm and she jumped at the touch. "It's okay Bonnie, just me. Let's get upstairs where there's windows for moonlight." She tugged on her arm and Bonnie complied, with Aria guiding her it was easy to climb the stairs. When they reached the landing she let go, and Bonnie could make out the girl before her with the help of the night's shine.

That's why she freaked out when a shadow dashed right past and with it went Aria. Gone. Just like that. "Aria?" Bonnie asked into the darkness. "You okay?"

When there was no response Bonnie began to worry. She started wandering down the hall, listening for any sounds. "Aria, this is starting to freak me out, where are you?"

All of a sudden there was a sound from one of the rooms to her right. She hurried over, afraid for Aria's life, and ripped the door open.

Only to wish she hadn't when she saw the shadow cloaked figures of Aria and… some _really_ hot guy, kissing. They weren't really going at it, Bonnie had walked in on worse- unfortunately- but it was still highly awkward.

The man turned with an annoyed expression, his perfectly pink lips pulled into a tight line and striking sky-blue eyes narrowed in his irritation. "You must be Bonnie," His form blurred, and in an instant he was right in front of her, a vicious smirk morphing his lips. "That was _really_ rude of you to interrupt us."

Bonnie gasped, eyes wide as his face morphed. The vampire's teeth sharpened into terrifying fangs, the kind you'd only see in a horror movie. Bonnie held her breath as she watched freaky black veins dance up to his eyes and it was as though the darkness was feeding his eyes as they began to burn with an energy she _knew_ was dangerous.

Then, he snarled. The sound sent shivers down her spine and made her heart race at a breakneck pace. Maybe she was about to prove you really could die from fear.

"Huh," the vampire hummed in thought. He tilted his head left and right as he studied her, fangs receding as fast as they'd appeared. "Guess you're not a scaredy-cat. Too bad."

"What the hell was that?" Aria raced forward and grabbed onto Bonnie. She was spun by the older girl, and her nerve-wracked focus was pinned to Aria. "I'm _so_ sorry Bonnie. Damon always makes the _worst_ introductions."

Bonnie let out a shaky breath and hazarded a glance at the vampire she now knew was Damon. She glared at him. "I guess you weren't lying, Aria, when you said he was an insensitive prick with juvenile tendencies."

Damon made a shocked sound, as though he were offended, whilst Aria just grinned. "Damn right I wasn't. You okay?"

"I will be, maybe. Give me a minute." Bonnie focused on Aria's comforting touch and kept a wary eye on the vampire. "You know, you never mentioned you two were dating."

Aria's eyes went wide and she gestured wildly in denial. "No- No we're not… We're not _dating_."

At the same time, Damon smiled, oozing pride out of every perfect pore. "She's now my official _shnookems_. My, _Sugar Plum_. My, _Uncle Upright_."

"Oh God." Aria buried her face in her hands, face turning an adorable shade of pink.

Bonnie stifled a laugh. They were a couple? This was an interesting spin on her perspective. So both her friends now, were dating vampires. "He's not holding you against his will? Compelling you, or whatever it's called?"

"I would _never_ ," Damon defended, sounding hurt, but then he frowned. "Actually, that's something I would do."

Aria rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. He's compelled me but… um," she gestured between herself and Damon. " _This_ is-"

"Perfectly natural." Damon smirked and pulled her into his arms, much to her obvious annoyance.

Bonnie chuckled. They were cute together. "All right, well I've seen proof that you're a vampire. I think I'd better leave you two to it."

"No, Bonnie. _Damon's_ the one who should leave, after fixing the lights."

Damon smiled down at Aria as though her statement was an adorable joke, then he turned and gave Bonnie a short wave. "Bye, bye, little witch."

"Huh? No." Aria struggled against Damon's grip.

Bonnie grinned and pointed out to the hallway. She knew when she wasn't wanted. Maybe Aria acted like she wasn't with the vampire, but Bonnie knew she _totally_ was. "I'll see myself out."

Aria protested, but Bonnie hurried away before she could change her mind. Besides, she had a best friend to talk to about a certain vampire boyfriend.

X

As soon as the front door slammed shut Damon let go of her. "Ugh, _Damon_." She stepped away from him so she could see his eyes. "Why do you keep kissing me?"

Damon leered down at her. "Because you're hot and I want to bang you."

She huffed. "Seriously, Damon, I don't understand. One minute you're trying to kill me and threatening my life and the next you're giving me all these _looks_ and you act like I'm your friend. Tell me why you keep kissing me," Aria pried.

She was _done_ with being confused. Aria wanted to understand what was going on in her life. The past few months had been an emotional rollercoaster, and she had a hard enough time figuring out how _she_ was feeling, let alone try and deduce whether Damon still wanted to kill her or not.

It was a struggle she did _not_ need in her life.

Damon shrugged, sly smile still on his face. "Well then, let me make it simple. I like you. I want to hug you... and kiss you and do all kind of _naughty_ things with you."

Aria grimaced at the last part of her words and turned away from him, hugging herself as Damon's gazed followed her, piercing through the few defences she had. "That's just it Damon I'm broken, you don't want me. You _shouldn't_ like me in that way. God, why do you have to make this so complicated?"

All her life she had felt like a misfit, wrong in every possible way. It was a burden she tried not to show, she stayed alone so it wouldn't be obvious how messed up she was. Now Damon was there, pushing her into territory she was entirely uncomfortable with.

Damon's smile fell, expression growing serious. "Let me guess... you're asexual right." Aria felt her mouth drop open in surprise that he'd just said those aloud, and in such a casual manner. "Yeah I know, I figured it out. It took me some time because I couldn't understand why you kept acting weird like, when I mention anything to do with sex you get this look on your face and when I insinuated you were a lesbian you weren't exactly upset, no… you were ashamed."

Aris felt tears well up in her eyes and she quickly turned away so that he wouldn't see her cry. It sucked to have it said to her face, and by _Damon Salvatore_ of all people.

He smirked in victory. "I'm right aren't I?"

Her lips thinned at his statement. Of course she should've known he would act like this. "You should leave."

"No way." Damon appeared in front of her in an instant, reaching out to cup her chin and tilt her head upwards. "I'm not leaving you, Princess, because I fucking care about you and I don't want you to be upset. Aria you're _not_ broken, you're amazing and perfect because you're _you_. Who gives a shit if you're not normal? I'm not normal, honey, I'm **far** from normal. I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm a century old vampire who eats people for breakfast and snacks on bags of blood. _Nothing_ about us is normal and I've come to learn that mankind's restriction on sexual orientations are _incredibly_ restricted."

Aria was speechless. She had expected Damon to taunt her or abuse her or call her a freak, anything to amuse himself from her pain. More than that, the fact that _Damon_ was saying these things to her meant more than the words themself. Damon wasn't one to say anything he _truly_ meant. He covered up his feelings with sarcastic jabs and raunchy comments. What he was telling her right now? She couldn't think of anything to say as he caught her gaze and held it, deep gunmetal eyes beseeching.

"So the question now is... do you like me?"

X

*Squeal* I'm sorry I don't normally comment at the end of chapters but just, argh, Daria feels! And also, ta-da the big reveal~ Aria's Ace! I'm sure _all_ of you were surprised :P Now excuse me as I fangirl over these two helpless assbutts.

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._ (This chapter MAY be extra long just 'cause I wanted to leave ya'll on a cliff hanger hehe)


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry guys, I've had a really rough past few days. I've succumb to the annoying virus that's going around and also dealing with a really REALLY bad break up. My girlfriend was banned from social media/skype etc because her homophobic parents found her out so I can't talk to her anymore... anyway, please forgive me for the delay **(and, as always, for your reviews, a kiss! ( ˘ ³˘)ᵏᴵˢઽ) Enjoy~! (P.S I hope you like this chapter guys, it's finally happening)**

 _I thought I'd better add in a bit of Aria's definition for her asexuality. Lemme know if you still have questions about it._

* * *

It really sucked, in Damon's gospel opinion, to have to get used to blood bags again. It was like drinking milk that'd been diluted with water and left in the sun for a few hours. Voluntarily drawn blood was like drinking old milk, not in the 'expired food' kind of sense, but in the 'totally unpleasant to drink' kind of sense. He'd acclimated to it though, for Aria.

Well, not _just_ Aria. Damon wasn't **that** whipped.

The issue he was facing though, was that a lot of his lifestyle changes could be tied back to one Aria Bailey entering his life. What happened to his super-fun murdering sprees? Or his drunken nights of foraying into hot, _steamy_ and wild sex with some eager ladies? Aria. Aria happened.

Except, much to Damon's confusion, he wasn't at all disappointed or regretful of the change. He was, in fact, pretty damn cheerful about it all. Every day was a new day where he could wake up, drink his travel mug of O-negative, then go out and amuse himself by tormenting/bugging/threatening or just spending time with Aria in general.

Damon was even more amused by the fact she was human. He had his own fragile, human BFF to prank with. Damon, in all honesty, considered Aria as someone he'd probably take a bullet for- given it was a normal bullet and not one of those annoying wooden ones.

Then it'd struck him, out of the blue, why not mix some of those things he'd been missing those past few months… together? Super-fun murdering sprees with Aria? Why the hell not! Hot, _steamy_ and wild sex with the girl? Damon had done worse. If he were being honest, Aria was quite the catch, despite how insufferable he found most humans.

The issue though was how he was going to go about mixing all those passions together. The murdering wouldn't be too hard, because in Damon's opinion Aria was rather disinclined to get mad at Damon for his impulsive homicides. That only added to her appeal.

She wasn't stupid. She knew he wasn't killing for fun. 90% of the kills he made were part of one of his downright _awesome_ schemes. The other 10% of the time? Well… Damon wasn't perfect.

 _Stefan_ was the one who was all 'good and saint-like', which was why Damon was pleased that Aria seemed to have no interest in the younger Salvatore. Score one for Damon. _Booyah_.

So yeah, he knew what he wanted. What he wanted was Aria Bailey, the brand new red head of his fantasies, all to his own.

For that, he'd had to blab about his 'crush' and work his charm, but all of it was very real and genuine, values he knew that Aria appreciated. When he'd outed her about her sexuality, she'd reacted about as well as he'd expected.

Then he told her he liked her anyway, because it was the truth.

He liked her even without the possibility of hot, steamy and wild sex.

Damon wasn't a one-trick-pony, after all. He was more than capable of finding enjoyment in other things, like scaring the crap out of her or striking her speechless like he just had with his _sickening_ speech spoken right from his cold, undead heart.

And when Damon asked Aria if she liked him back? It was throwing that same heart on the line.

Damn his heart for being so rebellious. Why'd he have to like Aria? Why couldn't he have fallen for that hot french model that lived in Delaware?

 **Un-fucking-fair**.

"Damon…" Aria's voice trailed off, breathless. Damon felt a sense of smug satisfaction at that, he'd always been good at inflicting that effect on people, but to date Aria had seemed impervious to his charms. "Yes, I like you."

"You do?" Damon asked, and couldn't help but sound hopeful.

Then she fluttered her eyes in that cute way of hers and Damon was entranced by the ochre gems staring up at him. "Yeah."

"Good." Damon felt a smile on his face. "Ugh, this is so sappy."

"It's just me here, Damon. I don't judge."

"No. You're creepily okay with all of my dickish ways."

"Maybe I'm just an idiot."

Damon sighed with a somewhat whining tone and pulled Aria to him. After everything he'd just admitted to, he figured he deserved to be able to hold her close if he wanted to. It was just so nice to feel how she fit against him, a perfect mold. "You are _not_ an idiot. You're definitely smarter than the average bear. Now stop fishing for compliments, there's some things we need to discuss."

"Oh?"

He nodded. If he was going to be a good 'boyfriend'- ugh, Damon hated the word- then he'd have to understand what his brand spankin' new 'girlfriend' was okay with. "I've been trying to get a read on what you're comfortable with, but it would help if you let me know."

"Um…" Aria sounded overwhelmed. Damon rubbed a comforting hand up and down her arm. See? He could be nice and gentle. He wasn't going to break her, or lose control around her. Damon knew he was leaps and bounds ahead of Stefan, it wasn't like he could go ripper on Aria at any moment. _So not the time to think about Stefan_. "Well for me… asexuality means that I don't feel any sexual attraction, and I'm kind of grossed out by the idea of… y'know."

 _She was so damn adorable when she was all shy and shit_ , Damon thought fondly as he watched a rosy shade dust her cheeks. "I understand. So what doesn't gross you out?"

Aria hesitated, but Damon knew that whatever her answer, his mind was made up. He was a stubborn jerk, and he knew that no matter what she said next, he _wanted_ her for himself. It took a few moments for Aria to speak, but Damon remained steadfast in his decision. "Hugging and handholding is nice... kissing is okay touching me well... just arms and waist and legs and stuff but no where more private than that I don't ever want to have sex but I really want to try to give someone a blowjob."

Damon froze. "Wait, say that last part again?"

Aria grinned and shot him an innocent look. He knew straight away she was teasing him. "What?"

He growled and spun her around, letting his control slip ever so slightly so she could see he meant business. "You can't just say things like that," Damon hissed. There was a warmth curling at the base of his stomach, but he ignored it easily enough. He huffed and pressed a hand to his chest. "Look, I'm a vampire with _excellent_ self-restraint, but would you mind not _toying_ with my sensitive feelings?"

"You heard me, and I meant it."

Damon tilted his head, letting his voice drop a few octaves. "Is that an offer?"

"Nope. Not in the mood."

"Will you ever be in the mood?"

"Probably not," Aria shoved him away with two fingers and Damon let her. Another allowance he'd have to get used to given their recent relationship status update. If only Damon had a Facebook, then he could make it official. "But maybe for your birthday or something, if it's something you'd want."

"Aria," Damon drew out the name with a pout. "What did I say about _teasing_ me?"

"You're a big boy, you'll get over it." Aria poked him and then turned away, sauntering in her skinny jeans. Damon thought it was downright rude of her, he had enjoyed hearing the mirth in her heartbeat when it had been so close. "I know you need to speak to Bree."

Damon was bewildered by her sudden change in topic. He had been savouring her possible future plans to… _satisfy_ him. Despite his disappointment, he waited for her to continue.

"Elena's going to see the picture of Katherine. You're going to be the one to calm her down, through the magic of a road trip."

"You want _me_ to handle an emotional teenage girl? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Yes."

"Okay then," Damon smirked. "But you're coming with me."

It was but the duty of couples to do things together. Damon wouldn't let Aria get away with this.

"Fine, when it's time." Aria made shooing motions at him and ordered, "Now go fix the damn lights."

"Anything for you, Princess," Damon assured and scurried off like a good boy.

X

Aria did not have even a remote clue of how she was supposed to respond to the previous night. Damon had admitted to liking her, and she had admitted to liking him. Did that make them… something? She supposed it did, because she _had_ basically promised him a blowjob at some time in the future. Urgh, he was turning her into an idiot.

Either way, they _were_ something now, and Aria decided that if they were _something_ then she would invite him to the careers night. If she was going to suffer through a night of helping her parents and ducking through a crowd, then she wasn't going to do it alone.

So she called him, for the first time, on her phone and explained the situation.

"I'm a fatalist, Aria," he began once she'd asked him to join her. "I found you first before.. any other supernatural freak in this town. You find messages in my actions, but I find messages in impossible events. Finding you? Letting you live? That was-"

"Dumb luck?"

"Fate." Damon's pitch shifted in amusement. "So when you ask me to accompany you to a careers night? Of course I'll say no."

Aria pouted and opened her mouth to say a few choice words but he hung up before she had a chance too. _Not cool, Damon. Not cool._

X

Aria was ambling through the stands, taking in all the information that surrounded her. Did she want to be a doctor? A Journalist? A cop? After a few minutes of this she sighed and gave up on trying to decide. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for the whole 'career' thing. Aria wouldn't mind just packing groceries for the rest of her life if it meant she'd never have to choose.

Her eyes were drawn to a boy who was flicking through one of the display sketchbooks at the art table. Aria smiled as she noticed it was Jeremy Gilbert, the boy who was struggling with his parent's death and dealing with a bitch as his crush. It wasn't like Aria hated Vicki, but damn the girl had pissed her off in the series.

Aria frowned when she realised that Vicki probably hadn't died, because Damon had never turned her. _Huh,_ Aria thought, _cool_. As she was watching Jeremy, another boy caught her eye. Tyler Lockwood. Aria sighed as she remembered how the night would end for the two guys.

"Welp, screw it." Aria hurried forward and grabbed Tyler's arm, spinning him around before he could get a word out to Jeremy, she then started dragging him towards the exit, with the hope to get him outside before he exploded. "Here's a clue for ya' Scoob- when you're mad, don't take it out on other people."

Tyler glared and snatched his arm back. They'd made it to the doorway. So close, yet so far. "What are you talking about?"

"C'mon Tyler, you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about. You should accompany me outside, get some fresh air." Aria reached out to grab his hand, but Tyler snapped. He knocked her hand away and then shoved her. She winced as she stumbled backwards from the force, _that was gonna bruise in the morning_ , Aria decided.

It shocked Aria just how dangerous Tyler looked in that moment, the full moon's effect more potent than Aria had originally thought. "Tyler?" She asked, voice quiet in an attempt to sound gentle.

He huffed and then turned, stalking out of the hall with a stiff, angry gait. Aria watched him for a second before hurrying after him, chastising herself for being an idiot. Antagonise a baby werewolf? It wasn't going to end well for her.

She followed him all the way to the outside parking lot, and then leaned against a nearby tree when Tyler stopped walking. His hands clenched into fists, and she eyed him warily as he took in deep, ragged breaths.

"It's okay." Aria sent him a small smile, though he wasn't looking at her. "I get it. It's that time of the month, huh?"

Tyler grumbled and scowled at her over his shoulder. "Why don't you piss off, Bailey?"

"Because you're not in a good place right now, and I wanna help." She stepped forward from the tree and placed a hand on her chest. "Feel your breaths, breathe with me. We're going to try and calm you down, counteract the moon's effect on you."

Tyler looked at her like she'd gone mad. "What?"

"You can feel it, can't you? The moon? It's making you more volatile, Tyler. This isn't like you."

He huffed and started walking a slow circle around her. "What do you know about me? Hmm? You brushed me off, acted like a _bitch_. What the fuck's your problem?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was dropped on the head as a child?"

"Yeah, 'cause you seem pretty crazy right now. I mean, the moon? What? And you're talking to me like you're my friend." He pointed at her and then himself. "You and me? Not friends."

Aria raised her palms in a placating manner. "Please, Tyler. Look at yourself! You're _stalking_ me, like you're planning to kill me."

"Maybe I am!" Tyler snapped and changed directions, circling in on her like a hungry lion. Aria paused, decided she didn't like that analogy. She'd refer to him as an angry bunny from now on. "Why do you _care_? Why are you _here_?"

"It's your father's choice not to tell you the truth, but you should know that the full moon is affecting you because you're not entirely human."

Tyler laughed at her in a derisive manner. _Yeah I'm with you there, mate, I sound like I just got out of the looney bin_. "What am I then? What is it that you think you know about me?"

He pressed right into her personal space, eyes wide with rage and muscles as tense as as a coiled spring. Tyler could and _would_ kill her if she wasn't careful. "Tyler," Aria whispered, for he was close enough to hear. "Please. _Breathe_. Breathe in- then count to ten- and then breathe out again."

Tyler ignored her instructions.

Aria grimaced. She realised he wasn't going to listen to her, she had to _make_ him listen. As fast as she could Aria snatched Tyler's hand and pressed it to her heart. Too stunned to react, Aria had a moment to coach a fazed werewolf into _not_ going on a murderous rampage. "Feel that? That's my heart. Focus on how it beats, feel my chest rise and fall. You're going to breathe with me. Okay?"

She drew a deep breath and waited. Tyler blinked a few times, then slowly she watched his lips open enough to suck in a breath. She held hers, and he did the same. Aria counted to ten in her head and then let out her breath. Tyler copied her, and she slowly loosened her grip on his wrist.

"Again," she told him. They went through the breathing technique again. Aria watched his eyes, waiting for the raging fire to dwindle. "Think of the gym. Think of those weights, pulling them up and down- up and down. The mind numbing activity is calming, soothing. Breathe in and out, think of anywhere else but here."

Tyler's eyes fell shut, and Aria kept breathing in and out in slow, regular breaths. "Keep breathing, that's it. You'll feel the anger leak from your body. I want you to capture it in one of those glass jam jars your Mom keeps for a rainy day. You're going to close that jar, and then take it to the pond in your backyard."

She waited to feel his muscles loosen under her hands, and once she felt the tension in his limbs lessen, she dropped his hand. It fell slack against his side. "Now, keep breathing. As you breathe in, you're going to open that jar, let the anger bubble up inside, and when you breathe out- let it go. Let it flow into the pond where it can't hurt you anymore."

It was a while before Tyler opened his eyes again, and Aria was immensely relieved to see that he'd managed to calm down. _Who knew all those anti-anxiety breathing techniques would help a werewolf?_ Aria knew it wasn't a permanent solution, a cheap trick was all it was, but for now it had helped Tyler and that's all she cared about.

"Uh… Aria?"

She gave him a hopeful smile. "Feeling better?"

Tyler frowned but gave a tiny nod. "Yeah. Did I hurt you?"

"Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix." Aria patted his shoulder and then pointed up at the moon overhead. "That up there? Don't let it control you, Tyler. You're a good guy, well, sorta. I'd hate to see you hurt yourself, or anyone else."

"You said I wasn't human…"

"I don't know if I have any right to tell you the truth, Tyler." Aria told him. "Maybe ask Mason about it."

"Mason?" Tyler seemed confused. "You know my uncle?"

"Sort of." Aria studied Tyler closely. "Are you going to be okay now?"

Tyler shrugged. "As long as no one pisses me off. So are you just not going to explain anything to me or…? What? You leave and we act like this never happened?"

"I'll tell you what." Aria reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "I'm going to give you my number, don't take this as an invitation or a statement of my interest. It's strictly for emergencies only. Also, if you decide you want to know the truth then message me. But Tyler, you should know that once you step into the middle of all of this you're going to fall down a rabbit hole you'll never climb back out of."

At the gravity of her words, Tyler swallowed and gave a hesitant nod. "I get it… I think."

"All right, now just, um… I'm gonna go back inside, you take a few more moments to compose yourself." Aria gave him a thumbs up. "You did a good job, thanks for not killing me."

Tyler had the decency to look regretful, but Aria wasn't surprised when he didn't thank her in response. _Tyler in season 1 always was a douche_. "Bye."

"Bye." Aria hurried back before anyone could notice she was missing, yet she couldn't help but feel like something incredible had just happened in those few minutes. Whether giving Tyler her number was a good idea, or a bad one, she couldn't tell.

X

When she got back to the hall her parents let her know she could go home if she wanted to. That suited Aria just fine, she had a sore neck and a messed up shoulder to ice anyway.

X

Aria lay in bed and held an icepack to her shoulder. It'd been just over an hour since she'd gotten home, and it had sucked the whole time. Tyler must have pushed her harder than she'd thought, because her arm was stiff and tender, making it hard for her to move it. She had managed well enough, though it'd been tough on the drive home.

Despite all that, things were looking up for Aria. She had her laptop ready to go, her favourite pay of toe-socks on and a nice warm sweater that read 'The rarest pepe is me'. She was in a good mood and it was only heightened when she got a text from Tyler that simply read 'thanks.'

 _Maybe Tyler wasn't so bad after all_. Aria put her phone away and then went back to making herself comfortable. She was going to have a nice night in and get some rest before the next chaotic thing happened in her life.

"What happened to you?"

She jumped in surprise and turned to see Damon frowning down at her. "God fucking damn it, Damon!" Her heart was racing in her chest and she had no doubt eventually Damon's scare-tactics _would_ kill her.

"Wow, now _that's_ some strong language, little missy." He climbed over her, straddling her for a moment before flipping onto his side next to her, smirking the entire time. "I think I may even be a bit offended."

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you hurt?"

Aria narrowed her eyes. _So much for her nice night in_. "You first."

He continued to stare at her, expecting an answer.

"Fine!" Aria snapped, not in the mood to deal with the vampire. "I had a run in with a werewolf- well, a baby werewolf."

Before she could even register what was happening, Damon was standing at the end of her bed, looking downright _furious_. "What?" He hissed, fangs bursting forth.

"Calm down. He wasn't even a real werewolf yet, more like a baby chihuahua trying to be a wolf. I'm okay, honestly." She huffed and crossed her arms. He was over reacting, like usual. "Stop snarling and lose the goofy eyes."

"My eyes aren't goofy," Damon defended with a pout. Much to Aria's relief, his intimidating fangs receded and she hoped he was calming down. "You're telling me there's a werewolf in Mystic Falls that's just _waiting_ to have his murder-cherry popped?"

"Two, actually… But that's not what matters. Just know that I'm handling it, okay?" Aria searched his gunmetal eyes to try and see if he had any faith in her words. "Will you trust me on this? Please."

"Duh," he scoffed. "Of course not. Who do you think I am?"

"I'm not going to tell you who it is because you'll probably go and kill them-"

"Damn right I will," he interrupted.

Aria's lips thinned her frustration. "Then I'm _definitely_ not telling you anything."

Damon smirked. He crept closer to her and his gaze was all-consuming. "That's all right, I'll just compel it out of you."

"No," Aria gaped, shocked he'd threaten such a thing. "Don't, Damon."

"Why shouldn't I?" He asked her with a short tone. "I don't owe you anything. I am not just going to let you hide this from me. If I want to know something, I _force_ the truth out of people."

They stared at each other, having a heated argument simply with their gazes. Their faces mere inches apart as their battle played out. In the end, Aria scoffed. "This is ridiculous," Aria stated before leaning forward and kissing Damon's perfect lips.

It was the first time that Aria had initiated the contact, and she didn't want to mess it up. She reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair, ruing the day when it'd be too short to grip on to. Damon took a few moments to catch on, but when he did his arms snaked around her and she was hoisted out of the bed. He held her to him, arms carting around her waist in an affectionate hug.

Their lips parted, still sealed. Aria breathed heavily through her nose, from both the kiss and their fight. It was weird being able to end arguments through kisses, Aria thought. It seemed to have worked though because Damon didn't look even _remotely_ mad anymore.

"You know I like you a lot, Damon," Aria began to tell him as she grabbed his hands and entwined their fingers together. "I think you also know I can handle myself. I'm not an idiot. I know what I'm doing, more than most. If I ask you not to get involved, it's not because I don't trust you or think you won't be able to handle yourself- it's because they're are bigger things to worry about right now."

Damon smiled, pearlescent teeth shining through. "Mmk," he agree, only seeming a little bit reluctant. "Speaking of bigger things, I need your help."

Aria felt somewhat humbled when she realized that some of Damon from the television show was shining through; The Damon that was over protective and wouldn't take no for an answer unless Elena talked him out of it. Was Aria on par with Elena now? _God, this is so weird_.

"What is it?" Aria quirked a brow. "Let me guess, you want my help to track down Logan."

"Well crap, there goes my surprise." Damon dropped her hands to reach into his pocket. "We need to take him out before he comes after you again. Sheriff Forbes tracked me down, told me that Logan had threatened her for covering up his death. My guess is that you're plan worked, he was a good distraction for the council."

"And you're going to be the hero who saves the town from the evil vampire." Aria chuckled as she put away her laptop, sad she'd be taking off her toe-socks so soon. "You want to know what would've happened in your other future? You would've charged into the warehouse Logan was hiding out in and gotten shot with wooden bullets."

"No way."

"Yup," Aria grinned. "Now I get to save the day by warning you prior. Where's my medal?"

"Right here," Damon drawled and handed her the watch. He looked her up and down then, an amused glint in his eyes. "You're going to face a revenge-driven vampire dressed like that?"

"You haven't even given me a chance to change yet!"

Damon laughed and pointed out the window. "I'll wait in the car, you get dressed into something fitting… maybe full leather, bit of blue in there too- it's one of my more favorite colors." He then ducked down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "See ya', Princess."

Then he was gone and Aria was left more than a little stunned.

X

"So did you ever find out how this thing works?" Aria tilted it back and forth, but the spindle didn't move from its direction. They'd been driving for a while now and Aria was getting _way_ too used to the smell of Damon's car. _Was it just a global thing for vampires to smell so good? Or was Damon just freakishly perfect like that?_ Aria pondered these questions as they took another turn.

"Nope," Damon answered, popping the 'p'. "Probably some new age bullcrap, I dunno. Whatever it is it works, and I for one cannot _wait_ to rip Logan's heart out and feed it to the sharks."

"Sharks?"

"Yup, one's called Wood Chipper and the other is named Fireplace. They're both only a few feet away from the boarding house."

Aria laughed. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be beautiful." Damon reached out and grabbed her hand across the dash. Aria was quite puzzled by that. Damon liked hand holding? He had never struck Aria as the type. Perhaps it was because she wasn't his normal kind of girl, it wasn't like they could connect in many physical ways. _God_ , Aria would never get used to thinking of Damon in _that_ kind of way. "I'll even make us some popcorn."

"To be honest, Damon. Watching you rip out someone's heart? Don't think it's gonna do it for me."

Damon pursed his lips. "Well you're welcome to wait in the car, listen to your Kidz Bop playlist."

Aria hummed in thought. "For you information, I actually prefer Imagine Dragons…. Or Pink or Fall Out Boy or just… _anything_ other than Kidz Bop. Anyway, if I stay in the car then who will make sure you don't get shot?"

"I'm serious, actually." Damon winked at her. "You're waiting in the car for me, babe."

"Ahh, now that's a shocker." Aria ran her thumb over Damon's smooth skin, liking how their hands fitted together. It was certainly a change feeling affectionate for the vampire, but so far it had been a good kind of change, and Aria had been lacking in good things recently. Damon made her laugh, made her happy in his own odd way.

She just felt kind of stupid for denying the fact for so long. Although in her defence, she did have over 100 hours of Damon being a dick on her other selves' laptop. She was right to be wary.

Now though, she wanted to get as close as possible. She wanted to be right by his side the whole way through, right every wrong that was dealt to him in his other future. She was going to treat him like he deserved to be treated.

...Like an overprotective jerkface.

"I'm following you inside because if he does get a leg up on you then _someone_ is going to have to pull out the bullets." Aria pointed out and before he could argue that she continued. "I'll sneak around the back as you distract him. If you need my help, I'll help, if not-" She shrugged. "No harm done."

Damon narrowed his eyes and after a second fo studying her they widened in realization. "You're actually looking forward to this."

Aria's lips thinned. Damn, she'd been caught out. "He ripped through my throat and left me to die in a _park_ , Damon. I'm no sadist, but there's nothing wrong with getting some revenge, right?"

He regarded her with a cryptic look that Aria couldn't decipher. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Damon smiled all of a sudden. "You've just won me over. What's the compass say?"

Aria grinned, glad he understood. _Well of course he would_ , Aria realized. _He's had his own revenge many times before_. "It's pointing more to the left now."

Damon smirked and shifted gears. "Aye, aye, captain."

X

It wasn't much later they pulled up in front of a very familiar warehouse.

"Mmm, yeah this is it." Aria unclipped her seatbelt when Damon finally stopped the car. She was eager to get this over with. "I remember it from one of my visions."

Damon appeared in front of her in a blur. "Nah-ah-ah, not so hasty, sweet cheeks."

"Don't tell me you've gotten cold feet," Aria groaned with a petulant pout.

"Never, but I do have a cold heart, which is why I'm not at all sorry for making you go around the back _and_ asking you to wait a whole five minutes before you start sneaking in." Damon grinned in a sardonic manner. "I know, the suspense might just kill you."

Aria scoffed. "And I'm sure that'd just break your heart."

"Remember, five minutes." Damon's reminder was accompanied by a tap to her nose, before the vampire approached the warehouse with his ridiculous speed.

She quirked a brow at his disappearing shadow. _A nose boop?_ _Really_?

It didn't take her long to walk around to the back, and then she crept right up to the back door and nudged it open with a light tap of her foot. Aria pulled out her phone then, and kept an eye on the time. It wasn't like she was about to sneak in before Damon's set time limit. That _would not_ earn her any brownie points.

As soon as the clock ticked over though, Aria was creeping inside as fast as she could. A dozen steps in she had to duck around a towering metal shelf and she hurried to hide behind one of the crates stacked on the framework. She took deep breaths to calm her heart and the subsequent pounding in the ears, and when she finally did Aria froze.

Someone was walking towards her.

Aria felt herself begin to panic, but she grabbed for some sort of weapon and managed to find a loose plank of would. It would have to do, Aria hoisted it high, and as soon as the person rounded the corner she swung.

The man- she recognized from his deep shout- dodged the attack.

"Oh… Aria, it's good to see you again." Logan Fell greeted her with a wolfish grin. The wood had shattered as it'd hit him, and now all Aria held were splinters. _Where the fuck was Damon?_ "What're you doing here? Hmm? How'd you-"

Logan was cut off when Damon appeared behind him and with a howl of rage he slammed the ex-reporter into the metal beam nearby. Logan's skull connected to the solid steel with a _crack_ and he collapsed to the ground unceremoniously.

Aria was breathless from the rush of adrenaline and witnessing Damon attack Logan in such a swift style. She looked between Damon, who was halfway through transitioning to full-blown vampire mode, and Logan's unconscious form.

In the end, Aria snapped. "You said five minutes! I thought that would've been enough time..."

"Yeah, me too." Damon seemed almost angry at himself, and Aria decided straight away not to fuel his self-loathing. She let her anger fade away, and met his concerned gaze with a calm one of her own. "You okay?"

Aria nodded, running her hand through her hair, smoothing her bangs back. "You got here before he could do anything."

"Good." He smacked his lips. "Well, bye then."

Aria blinked in confusion, and in an instant both Logan and Damon were gone.

X

 _Comments? Thoughts? Let me know in your review._ (I know they never really got around to the whole 'wanna date?' question, but they ARE dating, for all intents and purposes, just BTW if it wasn't obvious)

Sorry for the glitch update guys, FF's been having trouble.


	11. Chapter 11

**( ˘ ³˘)ᵏᴵˢઽ Enjoy~!** (JEREMYY FEELSSSSS) also omg im nearly finished season 6 someone hold me im not prepared.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Aria stormed out the warehouse, furious.

Damon shut the trunk with a loud _slam_ as Aria stalked over to the car. His hands were stained red, blood dripping from his mouth. "Well no offence, I get the whole revenge thing, I really do, but the first murder you witness shouldn't be the death of someone you _want_ dead. If I'm going to be the one to introduce you to the whole 'I've witnessed a homicide' scene then I'm gonna' do it right. Maybe have a nice sauvignon blanc ready, fancy three course meal…"

"Seriously?" Despite her annoyed tone, Aria felt her rage dissipate at his words, maybe she _had_ been a little too eager to witness her first real-life vampire kill. Even with her realization, Aria remained determined. "At least let me see the body, I'll even help you bury it."

Damon grimaced. "I don't think thats a good idea."

"Please?"

He shrugged and stepped aside, flashing a smile all too wolfish. "All right, if that's what you want, Princess."

Aria gulped, but walked forward. She situated herself right in front of the boot. _He killed me_ , Aria reminded herself. _I would be dead, if not for Damon_. Still, she hesitated.

"Want me to open it for you?"

Aria flinched at his sudden question that cut through the silence, his tone full of pity. _Fuck that,_ She sucked in her lower lip to worry at it before nodding. Damon popped the boot open, not one to encourage fear.

A body was there, that much Aria knew, but it was too disfigured and mangled to distinguish. Aria _knew_ though, knew it was Logan Fell right away. There was blood everywhere and Aria had no doubt Damon got a little bit too carried away with his revenge. The face was completely caved in, parts of the arm ripped clean to the bone in large chunks.

She had thought the sight of Logan's corpse would make her feel better, and it did, sorta. She knew now there was one less vampire in the world that could kill her. Except… the sight of the body made her realise that _this_ … was all her fault. Guilt hit her like a tidal wave, dragging her under into the depths of self-loathing. Aria had been the one to suggest turning Logan, it had been _her_ plan that lead to the man's demise.

"Don't forget he was a Grade A _dick_ before all of this. It was our life, or his." Damon must've noticed how Aria had shut down on herself, because he slammed the boot shut again. "Turning him just revealed his true colors, the ugly brown of a sewage pipe."

It was a joke, a harmless joke, but it hit her hard. Aria let out a choked sound and spun around, burying her face into Damon's chest. "It's all my fault," Aria whispered, horrified as she relived the events that lead to Logan's death all over again. "I suggested to turn him, it was my fault he was angry enough to come after me in the first place."

"Oh don't get all weepy on me. You haven't done anything wrong Aria. He was the one who used some freaky compass to track down Stefan and _brutally_ murder him. Some choices we make are _going_ to be tough, Aria, you just have to be tougher."

"I'm just a girl, Damon."

He frowned. "Now that's just sexist."

"Am I going to hell?"

Damon smirked down at her, ran his fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm her. "If you are then I'll be right there waiting for you."

"Thanks, Damon." Aria _did_ feel better after his reassurance. Maybe she'd given Logan a death sentence, but he'd brought it on himself. It didn't make her choices right, but Aria knew that because of her plan a lot of other innocent people were okay, and that included Stefan, Sheriff Forbes, and anyone else Logan wanted to hurt. Like Damon had said, it was a tough choice, one would Aria have to live with for the rest of her existence.

"So how about we go and chuck the body in a bottomless pit then go get some milkshakes and one of those cute pancakes that have smiley faces drawn into them."

Her life had become a fucking _mess_.

But at least she had Damon to help her out.

X

The milkshake was delicious and the pancakes were perfect.

Aria decided it was a perfect meal for a post-murder celebration.

(In the end, they'd dumped Logan's body in a raging fire that, afterwards, Damon had used to warm his hands. "At least the Buffy-wannabe was good for **something** ," Damon had commented when they'd left.)

It was nice.

X

Aria went to the library the next afternoon, because she knew that the youngest Gilbert would need inspiration for his project, and it wasn't like Anna was around anymore to help with that. She still felt kind of _off_ after the previous day's events, but Damon had done a good job of taking her mind off of it that morning when he'd dragged her ass to school.

" _Doesn't your personal chauffeur get a kiss as his tip?"_ He had asked her.

She had of course, obliged.

It'd certainly lifted her mood for those first few hours, because even just kissing Damon Salvatore was a miracle in itself. It was going to take Aria forever to adjust to their new… _thing_ , but she'd enjoy it while she could.

However much to her dismay, her mood had only worsened as the school day dragged on and gave Aria enough time to replay the sight of Logan's body in her mind _over and over and over_. It wasn't even the fact his body had been mangled in a gruesome fashion, but she continued to think of it all as _her fault_.

It was just one more thing she'd have to get used to.

Which was why it was convenient a certain young boy needed her help. It would get her mind off of everything.

Aria strolled through the various book shelves, looking for anything that caught her eyes. She headed in the general direction of the local and state history section, but kept her head down.

It didn't take her long to come across the teen, and when she did Aria worried her lower lip in thought. _Hmm, what kind of first impression do I wanna make_?

Aria huffed and adopted her recent motto of 'screw it'. She walked up and tapped Jeremy on the shoulder. Only… she didn't expect him to whip around so fast. His sudden reaction cause Aria to step back in response, and she crashed into the bookshelf behind her, which caused a chain reaction that resulted in dozens of books falling down on Aria's head.

"Oww," she groaned as she picked a book off of her shoulder. Her accident had ended with her butt on the floor. Nice. "Well at least this isn't the encyclopedia section…"

"Agreed," the boy said as he knelt down and Aria was glad he'd gotten her joke. It was a good start. He held out a hand in offer, tiny smile on his youthful face. Aria was humbled by the concern shining in his golden, honey eyes. "All good?"

"I think so." Aria accepted his hand, and the boy hauled her upright. She grimaced at the mess of books at her feet, but turned her attention back to her saviour. "Thanks."

"No probs." He bent down to pick up the books, and Aria knew better than to do the same. The aisle wasn't big enough for them both to be crouching down. "Name's Jeremy," he said as he handed the stack of books to her.

"Aria," she answered with a smile before focusing her attention on putting the books back in their rightful place. "Sorry for scaring you."

"Same to you. Um… so did you want something?"

 _God_ , Aria cringed in her mind, _this couldn't get anymore awkward_. "Well, I **was** going to ask if you needed help." She spun back around having put all the books away. As she was opening her mouth to continue, Aria realised how close they were and she shifted to the side so there was more space to breath.

If he noticed her subtle movement, he didn't appear offended. "I do, actually."

"This aisle is local and state history. And Civil War is one over. What do you need?"

Jeremy licked his lips, eyes darting over her face skeptically. "Local. 1860s. Do you work here?"

"Nope, I just study here way too much." She started walking towards the section Jeremy wanted. The whole situation was way more deja vu than Aria could handle. "You want reference. This way," Aria walked and listened to Jeremy's light tread as he followed. It didn't take her long to find the right shelf. She gestured in a wide arch. "Here we go. Original settlers, town archives, Founders' stuff. It's all here."

Jeremy nodded and started scanning through the labels, Aria watched him do so. It was surreal to yet again be meeting another TVD character up close. Aria would never get used to the feeling. Not wanting to drop the conversation, she spoke up again. "So, what's your topic?"

"The town's fear and hysteria surrounding the war and how it influenced certain writers of the time." Jeremy hunched down to look at the lower shelves.

Aria smirked, he was making this too easy for her. "You might want to focus that."

"The origin of local folklore and myths."

She grinned as he stood back up to face her. God, everything had been lined up just right, now she just had to tread carefully. "You mean, the vampires?"

Jeremy appeared stunned by her remark, so Aria whirled and grabbed a few books that'd be helpful then snatched onto his wrist and tugged. "Come on, let's go sit down and talk. My head's still a little woosy."

"You're kidding me, right?" Jeremy asked as they walked through the aisles. As soon as Aria spotted a secluded table, she sat them down, dumping the books on the flat surface. "There's no such thing as vampires."

"I can prove it to you." Fuck it, Aria had already spilled to beans to one of Elena's loved ones, why not add another to the list? "Vampires aren't just folklore. They're not a metaphor for the demons of the day for the union soldiers, they're real."

Jeremy scoffed and shook his head at her. "You're crazy."

"Sorry to interrupt your little tea party," Damon said, appearing out of nowhere. His sudden arrival was enough to spook the youngest Gilbert, and Jeremy jumped as he stared wide eyed at Damon. The vampire enjoyed the look for a moment before turning to Aria. "It's time. We gotta do that thing with the annoying, judgy chick."

"Wait. Before we go, do that thing."

Jeremy was still sitting there, the perfect picture of stillness.

Damon frowned. "What thing? I have a thing?"

"Yeah. The thing with the sharp protruding teeth that sprout from your mouth."

"Oh… That thing. Are you sure?" Damon asked for confirmation and Aria nodded. He shrugged. "All right," he agreed and turned to snarl at Jeremy. Aria was really loving the whole thing where Damon did what she said.

The fangs popped out, black veins squirming to life under his eyes, feeding the darkness that rose in his icy-blue gaze. He held that look long enough for Jeremy to have pissed his pants- although he probably didn't- then turned to Aria with an impatient smirk. "Good?"

"Perfect. I'll meet you in the car, did I mention you have impeccable timing?"

"A few times." Damon smirked, kissed her right on the lips in front of a fifteen-year old then went ahead and waggled his fingers at said teen. "See ya', Shaggy."

Then Damon was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared.

"That was Damon," Aria explained with a fond grin. "He's a dick, never forget that."

Jeremy gulped, face ghostly pale in his fright. Aria felt bad, but she figured it was better he found out now rather than later. Although Damon could've been a bit more gentle with the grand reveal…Eh, who was she kidding?

"He's also a vampire. So is your sister's boyfriend Stefan. The news reporter that went missing? Logan Fell? He was a vampire too, but Damon killed him yesterday." Aria winced when she noticed how horrified Jeremy seemed. "I know, it's weird. It takes some getting used to. Just know that Stefan and Damon are sorta-kinda harmless. They drink blood, as vampires tend to do. Damon drinks from blood bags though and Stefan sources his food from woodland creatures."

Jeremy remained silent.

"Agh… This could've gone better. Sorry, I just thought you ought to know what was going on in your sister's life." Aria tapped the table, picking up on the awkward tension in the air. She was the worst supernatural greeter in existence. Hell, even Damon would've done a better job than her!

It was a while before Jeremy spoke up. When he did, there was something burning in his gaze. "Why have you told me all of this?"

 _To keep you from finding out the hard way. To keep you from feeling even more left out and alone than you do already_. Aria couldn't bring herself to say any of that though, so she settled for another truth. "Besides getting you up to date on the gossip revolving around your sister's life? Well I guess… Because you deserve to know. You're smart and loyal and **passionate** , we could use your help in our new 'dream squad'. Y'know, we fight for justice and all that."

He laughed, albeit a bit on the manic side, but it was a laugh none the less. All in all Aria thought he was taking it all pretty well. Huh, she'd really thought she'd balls'd it up. "And what did... Damon want?"

"Oh. Your sister, Damon and I are going to go on a road trip for a while. You can have my phone number though so you can text me all of your questions while I'm gone." Aria was starting to use her phone _way_ too much, she'd have to get a better plan. Maybe the one with the extra data, 2GB only let you watch so much YouTube on the road.

Jeremy shook his head, held his hands up in refusal. It was a little too late that she realised she'd misread the situation _entirely_ , and that Jeremy was in fact **not** handling this well at all. "I'd really rather not ever speak to you, or that guy anymore. You're both _freaks_ , and _crazy_." The teen huffed in sudden frustration, shoving his chair out with a hard kick and standing up in much the same manner. "And leave my sister _alone_."

He then proceeded to storm off in a bit of a tantrum.

Aria pursed her lips. "Welp."

 _That could have gone better_ , she thought. Aria decided she probably shouldn't have just sprung the supernatural on him like that. He needed to be eased into it, but she'd just gone and dumped it all on him at once. Maybe next time she'd use Bonnie for the demonstration instead. Levitating feathers? Damn. She should've thought of that earlier. Nobody gets spooked by feathers.

...Unless they were creepy supernatural feathers. **Ugh**.

X

"To be honest, I thought you would've hidden the picture of Katherine so we wouldn't have to hit the road with Elena in tow," Aria pondered as she climbed out of the car. Damon had broken every speed limit and taken every shortcut possible to get them in front of Elena. She was abiding stop signs, Damon hadn't. Despite the law breaking it seemed to have worked, because they were on a long stirp of ride with no sight of Elena's SUV.

"Nah, road trips are awesome." Damon ambled around to where Aria stood. "Besides, it seems I've gotta save my brother's ass once again."

"Well in the original vision I had, Elena crashed because a vampire got in her way. How are we going to stop her now?"

Damon smirked. "The good old fashioned way."

It took a few seconds for Aria to catch on. Old fashioned way? Well, there could only be one. "Oh! Cool. Let me just lie down on the road then."

"Nah. I'll do it. Between the two of us, I'm the only indestructible vampire."

"Yeah but if you get on the ground then she'll probably continue driving and just crush you."

"The same could happen with you," Damon quipped. "You did mess up her and Bonnie's friendship after all. I'm not risking it, no sir-e."

Then he went ahead and settled himself on the ground. He could've blended in seamlessly given how much black he was wearing. Too bad he had perfect skin that stood out against the bitchumen.

"How do we even know if her car's going to be next? What if someone else stops?"

"Then I'll compel them to move along." Damon was the perfect image of a corpse as he waited. Even Aria would've stopped if she'd been driving the same strip and come across him. Though once she'd have realised it was him Aria would have just drove around. She was nice like that.

"We should've brought ketchup," Damon said.

"For a fake blood splatter?"

"Yeah, and maybe some ground beef to scatter around too."

Aria chuckled as she stepped back to lean against the car. "You know, the car would be more than enough to stop her. We could just park it in the middle of the lane…"

"Yes, but then we risk the car's life."

"You're insane."

Damon didn't disagree.

Before they could continue their debate, a blue hatchback rounded the corner up ahead and Aria straightened in surprise. "That's not Elena's car. Get off the road, Damon."

"What? Why? I could use a snack."

Aria groaned as the car began to slow down as it approached, and soon enough the driver was exiting the vehicle. It was a young brunette wearing a concerned expression on her face. Aria pitied the lady and walked forward to help out. "Are you all right?" The woman asked Damon's 'corpse'.

"Hey," Aria greeted, surprising the lady enough for her to jump in surprise.

"Er, hello?" The poor woman seemed confused, and only more so when Damon popped up behind her. "What's going on?"

"I'm quite all right, in fact." Damon spoke into the brunette's ear, causing her to spin around fast enough to cause whiplash. Aria watched on. "A little hungry though."

Damon's gaze flickered to Aria, and she wasn't sure whether it was her look of boredom or her utter exasperation with Damon's words, but he stopped growing his fangs and grabbed onto the woman's shoulders, holding her gaze.

"You're going to continue onto wherever you're going and forget what happened here."

Aria frowned. He'd given up so easily. Was that because of her? "Look, Damon, if you want to eat you can, I'm not going to stop you."

"Really?"

She shrugged. "It doesn't bother me."

Damon grinned and turned back to the stranger. "My sweetie buns just gave me permission to do something wicked," his face morphed into it's dangerous counterpart and Aria had to turn away. It wasn't like she wanted to _watch_ him feed, **ew**. "Don't be afraid, this'll only hurt a tiny bit."

Aria listened to the horrible _squelching_ sound of fangs sinking into flesh, but she held her resolve and waited. It must've been nice for Damon to have been able to drink some fresh blood, rather than the old stuff that blood bags provided.

"Oh my God!" Aria spun to see Elena standing there, looking utterly disgusted. "Damon, what the hell?"

It seemed Elena also had impeccable timing. _Great_.

"Hmm, I should add banshee to that list." Damon let go of his snack with a frustrated huff and faced Elena, mouth dripping with blood. "Your voice reaches supersonic levels."

Aria quirked a brow. "What list? You keep a list?"

"My first step on the road to getting my life in line."

She beamed at the vampire, their banter always making her feel better. Elena's shriek had reminded her how _wrong_ it actually was for Damon to just be drinking from a person. "Oh? And what step is that?"

"Get organised, write notes." Damon stalked forward and grabbed onto Aria, both of them forgetting Elena was there. "Want to know what's on the top of my priority list right now?"

"I think I could guess," Aria replied, lost in the moment.

Elena cleared her throat, drawing Aria's attention, but clearly not Damon's because she felt him press a kiss to her cheek. "Just ignore her and the pest control will swing by shortly to pick her up."

Had Damon just compared Elena to vermin? Aria barely stifled her laugh.

"Aria, _please_ tell me why there's a woman standing there with a gaping hole in her neck and why you're even out here in the first place?"

 _Should I side with Elena… or Damon?_ Aria asked herself, trying to figure out where to best her attention. On one hand, Damon was having _way_ too much fun kissing her neck, on the other hand, Elena seemed to be in a bit of a mood. Understandably so, she did just find out a pretty dark secret, after all.

"Go deal with your leftovers, I'll talk to Elena." Aria pushed at Damon and he grumbled about annoying teenage drama as he strolled away. Of course, Aria noticed the wet stickiness now coating her neck and she did _not_ want to consider the possibility that it was someone else's blood. "Hey… So… This is awkward."

Elena's lips thinned as she crossed her arms, but Aria could see the tears glistening in the girls eyes. It looked like she needed a hug, and Aria gave _great_ hugs, but it would be a bit too awkward if they hugged right then. Y'know... cause of blood and the fact Elena probably hated her guts. "Maybe one of you could also explain why I look like her, like _Katherine_ ," Elena demanded, voice shaky.

Aria looked to Damon for help, but he was still talking to the stranger and focusing on his task, almost like he was avoiding the conversation. _Well, of course he was_ , Aria decided. It **was** Damon after all. "I don't know everything-" _Lie_. "But from what I've overheard, I think you guys are related or something. She's a vampire, and Stefan's first love, but I know for a fact that's not why he dated you. He's dating you because you're you and you're everything he could ever want."

"Really?"

"Dead honest," Aria swore. She was an absolute pro at distracting people with sappiness and cheesy lines.

Elena considered Aria's words with a frown. "Then why does he still have her picture on his table?"

"Because he's an idiot," Damon scoffed, appearing next to Aria to join the conversation. Out of the corner of her eye, Aria spied the brunnette climbing into her car and driving off. Aria hoped she got home safely, God forbid another vampire stopped her on her way. "Leaving a picture of your ex out in the open for your current schnookems to see? Awkward."

" _Beyond_ awkward." Aria grabbed onto Damon's shoulder, tugging him forward before he could prance off again. "Which is why big-bro Damon is here to save the day. Go on, why don't you explain to her the mystery of Katherine Pierce whilst I go bring 'round the car."

Much to her amusement, Damon looked at her with utter fear in his cerulean eyes. He was pretty much looking at her with puppy dog eyes, but Aria was immune to such things. She gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder then escaped to the safety of the car.

It didn't take too long for Aria to swing the car around, in fact, less than a minute, but somehow Damon had managed to piss Elena off in those short few seconds. The girl was giving the vampire the full-blown shouting and pointing fingers treatment. If Aria had to guess, Damon had probably insinuated that Elena was being overdramatic.

Rather than saving her helpless vampire, Aria parked the car and pulled out her phone. She took a picture of the fighting pair and then typed a quick message to Bonnie. 'You've gotta love supernatural drama,' she captioned- attaching the picture- then pressed send.

Not one to ruin an entertaining moment, Aria sat in the car and watched as Damon continued to smirk at a furious Elena, the entire thing an obvious joke to him. It didn't take long for Damon to notice he had an audience and as soon as he did he gestured rudely at Aria. She grinned and returned it with her own equally rude gesture.

Then, when after some time Elena seemed to calm down, Aria stepped out of the car and sidled up to the two warring spirits. "So," Aria clapped her hands in excitement. "We ready to hit the road?"

Elena flashed Aria a hostile glare. "I'd rather not."

"Well too bad because I already bought the matching pair of tee shirts for us all and there's no returns allowed. I burned the receipt." Damon added.

Aria feigned eagerness. "Ooo, what do they look like?"

"You two have some serious issues with staying on topic," Elena cut in before Damon could answer. "Now, please move your car so I can go."

"Go where?" Damon replied with a cynical smirk. "Currently we're the only two people you know that you can talk to about this Katherine drama."

Elena's fury returned full force at his words, and she whirled on Aria with burning eyes. "Actually, I have _Bonnie_ to talk to since you went behind my back and blabbed to her."

"About that…" Aria said, feeling somewhat awkward. "I also may have told your brother."

Elena's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Don't worry, poor little thing got scared and ran off before we could explain," Damon added.

Aria groaned. " _So_ not helping, Damon."

"What did you say to him?" Elena asked, already fumbling to get her phone. She dialed a number before Aria or Damon could get another word in, and then, with a strained voice, spoke into the receiver. "Jeremy? Are you okay?"

Aria tuned out their conversation and focused her attention on Damon. "You know that was _so_ fucking rude. I _totally_ had that, and now we're going to have to deal with a pissed off Elena."

"She was already mad," Damon retorted. "I just thought I'd add to the drama a bit more. You've gotta face your actions sometime, Ari."

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side!"

Damon smirked. "That can be arranged," he stammered and then tugged her forward so she was pinned against his, well, side. "Better?"

Aria rolled her eyes at his question, but couldn't help feeling better because of his actions. Damon was getting _way_ too good at knowing exactly what to do to make her smile. "Just a bit," she answered after a moment.

"Good, because bigger-but-still-little Gilbert just hung up."

At Damon's words she braced herself for the worst.

"Aria!" Elena's shriek came. "Jeremy was so confused and worried, how could you do that to him?"

"Damon was the one who-"

"He said you told him vampires were real! Damn it, Aria, I didn't want him to know. You've just endangered his life, I hope you know what you've done!"

Elena was all up in Aria's face, and Aria reacted to that with her own anger. "What would you have preferred, Elena? He was _researching_ vampires! At some point he would have found out, with you bringing the very thing you want to hide from him in your house practically every day! Eventually you would have slipped up and he would've been mad at you for keeping it secret so long. At least now he's mad at _me_ and not you, and you get to be the big sister and comfort him instead of being the target of his hate!"

Damon, meanwhile, was relaxing against the frame of his car. "So early in the trip and I'm already getting to see my first catfight, this is going to be great. Where's my camera?"

"Shut up, Damon!" Both girls snapped at the vampire.

Aria huffed and glared at Elena again. "Now stop complaining that I've messed up, because we both know I've done the right thing for your brother. Stop yelling at me and instead maybe try comforting your brother and help him to understand what's going on, because when I left him he specifically told me to stay away from _you_. Which means that he's fucking scared and frightened and worried you're going to get mauled to death by a bunch of vamps, when instead you're fucking _dating_ one!"

Elena's lips were thin, her face had paled considerably. "He was worried about me?"

"Duh, he's your brother. You guys love each other."

The elder Gilbert drew a steadying breath, before lifting her phone and dialing again, but before she called she glanced at Aria again. "This isn't over."

"Ooo, goodie," Damon commented.

Elena, rather than snapping at the vampire, turned and walked away to call her brother.

Aria watched her for a while, just considering how the girl must be feeling at that moment. Was she nervous about the fact that Jeremy knew the truth now? Or did she simply worry for her brother's safety now that he had such knowledge?

"You handled that well," Damon said as he approached. "Too bad the claws didn't come out, that would've made listening to Elena's squeaky voice worth it."

Aria huffed and then spun around to face the man she had a stupid crush on, then promptly smacked his arm. " _That's_ for being an ass."

Her frustration didn't seem to faze Damon, for he just bent closer to capture her gaze with his cerulean orbs. "You know you're really hot when you're angry."

Aria stared at him, unimpressed. "Flattery? Really? Haven't we been through this already."

"It was worth a shot," Damon shrugged, smirking like the asshole Aria claimed him to be. "So what now, Princess? Are we going to ride off into the sunset with our gangly hostage in tow?"

"I think anything I say now will break our unspoken 'don't talk about Katherine or the tomb' rule."

The light of amusement in Damon's gaze faded somewhat, and the crinkles around his eyes tightened in the only sign of his discomfort. "I guess that's a 'sure Ken'."

"Did you just quote an Aqua song?"

"I'm a man of many talents."

Just then Elena returned looking exhausted, but calmer than before. "All right. Let's get going. If I get to torment someone with my woes about Stefan being an idiot, it's going to be you two."

Aria and Damon shared a hesitant glance, but they both reached the same conclusion at around the same time. Elena was going to join them, and it'd be a perfect opportunity to rag on Damon's 'saintly' brother. It wasn't like they were about to give **that** up.

"Shotgun!" Aria hurried to call.

Damon groaned as he vanished and appeared again next to the driver's side door. "No way. Both of you ladies are going in the back so I can keep an eye on you."

"But the back is so _small_."

"Then you're luck you're both ridiculously tiny. Seriously, I'm tempted to start a boot camp for you both." Damon pulled open his door and slid in, not bothering to continue the argument.

Aria sighed and turned to Elena. It was Damon's car after all, driver picks the music _and_ the seating arrangements. "After you," Aria offered.

Elena scrunched her nose. "No thanks, I'd rather sit _behind_ Damon where he can't look at me easily."

The redhead shrugged in response. "Your choice." It was a tight fit in the back, but Aria managed to wiggle over to her side and then clip the seat belt on. Damon smiled at her in the rear view mirror, and Aria couldn't help but return the affection.

The sound of an engine rumbling to life broke their moment, and Aria whirled around to see Elena's car moving. She panicked for a moment, only to frown when Elena drove off the road and parked behind a bunch of bushes.

"She's hiding the car. Smart." Damon's eyes went wide as though he couldn't believe Elena was possible of such forethought. "And here I thought she was a blondie in disguise."

"So many times I feel your words should be offensive, but then I remember you're a jackass." Aria slipped off her shoes and then propped her sock-clad feet on top of front seat, toes brushing against Damon's head. "Let me know if this bothers you."

Damon glowered at her. "It bothers me. You're feet stink and if you ruin my hair I might just get Carc to steal all of your left socks."

"You wouldn't dare," Aria challenged, eyes narrowing at his threat.

He just smirked and turned to look out the front window.

X

Elena returned to the car eventually and Damon made sure they'd both buckled their seatbelts before he sped off. He picked the music, some classic rock station that Aria found herself enjoying despite her different tastes. Elena stared out the window, sulking like the teen she was.

Damon still hadn't knocked away her feet, so when she grew bored Aria tickled his ear with her toe. His reaction was highly amusing for straight away the car swerved as he raised both hands to swat at her. "Aria!"

"Sorry," she lied.

He growled at her, a full on animalistic growl. "You did that on purpose!"

"I really didn't. Cross my heart."

He glared at her through the rear view mirror and then in the next moment his face had morphed, fangs appearing like some freaky magic trick. Much to Aria's horror, he _snapped_ at her toes. She squealed and pulled her precious limbs back. "Damon!"

"You had it coming," he quipped and in an instant his face was back to normal, signature smirk and all. His gunmetal eyes were alight with amusement and a fondness that warmed Aria's heart. "I did warn you."

"You never threatened the life of my pinkie toe." She shifted to try and get comfortable. _Stupid Elena got to rest her feet on the passenger seat, not fair_.

He just continued to stare at her in mirth, blue eyes dazzling and Aria found her annoyance melting away.

X

 _I'm tired of asking for reviews, you guys are perfect either way (heart) Ily_


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay here's the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy :)** **( ˘ ³˘)ᵏᴵˢઽ Enjoy~!**

 **This chap is a little short sorry...**

 **Warning: Underage drinking on Aria' part, DW it's not too major.**

* * *

"What's Jeremy's number?"

Elena balked, finally looking away from the window. "Are you serious? You want me to give you his number? So what… you can spill more horrible truths to him? No freaking way."

"Ooo, am I gonna get to see a catfight? In my own car? Where's my camera."

Aria glared at Damon, he wasn't helping at all. "Elena I just want to try to explain everything to him. I don't need _another_ Gilbert mad at me."

"Maybe you should've thought of that before you scared him."

Damon grinned. "Ooo _Burn_. How you gonna deal with that?"

"Are you still mad about that? I've already told you that I didn't _mean_ to scare him."

Elena was stubborn though, and she crossed her arms. "You're not getting his number. If you want it, you'll have to ask him yourself."

"Okay, well call him then gimme the phone. I'll ask."

"You know this would be a lot easier if you just let me go and compel the little bastard," Damon offered with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"No!" Both Elena and Aria snapped at the same time.

 _JFC,_ they really needed to stop doing that.

Damon shrugged and turned back to the front. "Your loss."

"Please, Elena?" Aria captured the other girl's ochre gaze.

Much to Aria's surprise, the other teen relented and she dug out her phone before dialling a number in it. It didn't take long for the call to pick up. "Hey, Jer… Are you all right with talking to Aria for a bit? She wants to speak to you."

There was silence as Elena listened to her brother's response, and then… she handed the phone over.

Aria took it with the gentleness one would use for their most prized possession. This was a glorious moment and Aria refused to ruin it by dropping Elena's phone. "Hi, Jeremy. How are you?"

"Fine," was his short reply.

"That's good…" _Awkward_. "I just wanted to apologise for how I handled everything. I'm not sorry that I told you, because you deserve to know, but I _am_ sorry that I upset you."

He didn't respond. Aria cast a panicked look in Damon's direction, catching his gaze in the mirror. There was a steadiness in his eyes that reassured Aria's nerves, and so she waited for Jeremy's response.

It didn't take too long. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Oh…" The last thing Aria had expected was for Jeremy to _thank_ her. She cleared her throat to try and move past her surprise, then continue to finish her sentence. "No problem. So I was thinking, when we get back from the road trip, want me to help you with your paper again?"

"What? Hang out in a dusty old public library with you? I'd love to," Jeremy drawled in response.

Aria couldn't hold back her smile. "Well I would offer we hang at my place, or yours, but unfortunately the library holds what we need. Google just won't cut it, this town isn't tech-savy enough to have uploaded all their history onto the interwebs."

"What a shame, and here I thought you had a vampire boyfriend who could tell us all the secrets of the universe."

Aria gasped. "Oh right! I'm such an idiot. Think I could get him to help out?"

"Worth a shot. I'd be cool with it as long as he didn't try to eat me again."

"He's just a douche like that, don't let it get to you. Actually, I would take it as kind of a compliment." Aria relaxed back into her seat. Conversation with Jeremy was easy and felt surprisingly natural to Aria. She was just so relieved he seemed to have cooled down since their meeting. "Damon, want to help us with Jeremy's assignment?"

"What's it on?"

"Vampires."

Damon scoffed. "Pfft, no thanks. Sounds like a bore."

"He says no," Aria relayed to the phone. "I think we're stuck with the library."

"Just pull the girlfriend card."

"Can't."

"Oh right, because he'd probably just rip your head off."

"Probably," Aria agreed with a laugh. "Damn you're catching on fast."

"Only because you're a good teacher."

"I'm just upfront about things. If someone's a dick, I'll tell you."

There was a pause. "And if you'd actually rather spend your time doing something fun than help a lowly fifteen year old?"

"Jeremy, I would like nothing more than to help you write an assignment on vampires," Aria told him in earnest. "So is it okay if Elena gives me your number, now?"

"She wouldn't give you my number? Rude," Jeremy said and Aria found her smile growing. "Nah, of course. Let me speak to her and tell her it's all G."

"No prob, thanks for hearing me out, Jeremy."

"To be honest? I'm glad I did."

Aria chuckled as she parted with the receiver and handed it back to Elena, then she pulled out her phone and added a new contact. As the name, she put 'Shaggy' and then left the picture blank. She wondered if Jeremy would let her take a photo of him.

"Aria?"

Aria looked up at her name, and noticed Elena holding out her phone. "You can have his number now."

"Yes!" Aria cheered and then hurried to add the contact. Once she was done, she brought up a message field and texted away as Elena took her phone back.

 **Shaggy**

 **Today** 6:53 PM

 _Heyo. This is Aria, if you were wondering._

 _._

 _Good job convincing ur sister to hand over_

 _ur number. now i can sign u up for all the_

 _cat facts ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_

 _._

His reply came almost instantly.

 **Shaggy**

 **Today** 6:53 PM

 _Oh no. this was a bad idea wasnt it?_

 _._

 _plz no cat facts. i get enough cat puns from_

 _elena's fb feed. also whats with the troll face_

 _._

Aria tapped out her reply.

 **Shaggy**

 **Today** 6:53 PM

.

 _Too bad ur doomed now and idk i just_

 _think it's cool. theres no better face to express_

 _my constant amusement over the world and it's_

 _silly trifles._

 _._

They messaged back and forth for a good long while. She asked about the assignment and who his teacher was and he replied with a long spiel about Alaric Saltzman the mystery man who was giving him at extra credit because he could see the good in Jeremy. Aria replied with her own tale of a teacher who had too much faith in her, which amused him greatly because he sent her a lol and a smiley face. Aria grinned at the screen, enjoying her talk with the youngest Gilbert.

"I take it you and Jeremy are no longer on the outs," Damon commented. His cerulean orbs were gazing out at her from the mirror, a hidden emotion in their blue-green depths.

"Yeah. He's cool." Aria answered absent-mindedly as she read Jeremy's text about Batman: Arkham Asylum. He'd offered for her to come over and play it sometime, because she'd expressed her interest in the Dark Knight trilogy. "He says hi, by the way."

Damon didn't give a verbal response, just a simple nod.

 _Hmm_ , Aria thought. _He must've been in one of his moods_.

Oh well, Aria had better things to do then try and unravel the enigma that was Damon Salvatore. She unlocked her phone again and pulled up her conversation with Jeremy, hoping that her 36% battery would last the rest of the drive.

X

Much to her disappointment, her battery had only lasted another hour before it had given up on her. She'd said a sad farewell to Jeremy before putting her phone away in her pocket.

"How far out are we?" Aria found herself asking as she glanced up at the mirror.

Damon pursed his lips in thought. "Quite a bit. You two best get some sleep."

"I'm good," Aria answered, then glanced at Elena… only to notice the other girl was asleep.

She smiled at the sight, glad Elena was getting some rest. The teen had had a tough day, with Stefan and Jeremy and Damon… and Aria. _Poor Elena_.

"Want to climb into the front seat?" Damon asked, drawing her attention.

Aria shrugged. "Sure, if it's okay with you."

"I'd love nothing more," Damon promised with a wolfish smirk that had Aria laughing as she undid her seatbelt and clambered into the front. "You know I never thought I'd have climbing on top of me," Damon flashed a wicked grin at her when she was halfway across, head hovering over his as she climbed.

"Shut up," Aria quipped with her own grin and finally she slid into the passenger seat. "Damn, haven't done that since I was a kid."

"What? Topping?"

"God! Damon, ew." Aria smacked his arm as she reached out for the seatbelt with her other. "No I mean, treating the car as a jungle gym."

"Ah yes, returning to your childish roots."

Aria's lips quirked as she glanced at her vampire bae. "You are a terrible influence on me."

"Shh," Damon hushed her and then feigned casualness. "So what'd you and little Gilbert talk about?"

"Batman, why?"

" _Just_ Batman?"

Aria's eyes narrowed. "Are you… jealous?"

"Of a fifteen year old? No way." Damon shrugged, voice pitch varying as he continued. "I'm just trying to figure out why you wanna help him so bad. Don't tell me you're guilty about spooking the kid?"

"He's just going to be very important in the future and I want to get him on our good side before we need his help."

Lines formed between Damon's brow. "Like with Bonnie?"

"Yeah." Aria answered.

"Okay," Damon responded.

He then changed the topic onto how weird it was that Jeremy was doing a research paper on vampires around the time that Elena started dating one. Aria allowed herself a private smile as she reminded herself that she was living a life that followed the plot of a TV show.

 _Everything_ was weird.

X

"Wake up," a low voice coaxed Aria from her sleep, in time with someone shaking her shoulder. "Wake up, Princess, you're drooling."

 _Drooling?_ Aria's mind became alert in an instant and she hurried to wipe at her mouth… only to find it clean. No drool. "Damon?" Aria asked, half asleep.

"Come on, get up. We've made it, sleeping beauty."

Aria rubbed at her tired eyes and blinked as her surroundings came into focus. "Where?"

"Bree's bar. Elena's dealing with her Aunt so you and I are going to do some snooping before she starts nagging us again." Damon reached in and grabbed onto Aria's arms, helping her out of the car in her slowly waking state. "Up and at 'em, pretty girl."

"What time 's it?" Aria slurred as the sun assaulted her senses. She didn't even remember falling asleep, but she supposed it had been pretty late at night. She'd probably just dozed off in the middle of a sentence. Ugh, at least she hadn't drooled.

"Just before noon. Lemme just.." He trailed off as he started petting her hair, fussing over her crinkled attire before deeming her suitable enough. Aria stood there, utterly uninterested in his fiddling. "Okay. Perfect."

"Perfect?"

"I'd swipe right in an instant."

Aria made a face, deciding not to comment. "You know what I just realised? The entire point of this road trip is meaningless. I already know what Bree's gonna say."

Damon shrugged and wrapped an arm around her neck, tugging her close to his warmth. It was nice to be so close to him as they strolled up to the club, she could use him as a shield for her shyness. "I probably should have thought of that, but whatever. This has been… fun."

"For you, maybe."

"Come _on_ , you can't tell me you didn't enjoy being stuck in a car with me and Miss. Tight-Pants all night." Damon's nicknames were getting out of control. "Besides, I needed a drink."

Aria shrugged against him, and they walked side by side into Bree's bar. Straight away Aria was assaulted by the classic scents of alcohol and timber, burning with an edge of spicy rum. It was a nice place, as far as bar's went. As she spotted Damon, the bartender spoke up from across the room. "No... No, it can't be. Damon. My honey pie."

When they reached the bar Bree looked between Aria and Damon with an intrigued expression, before pouring a shot and addressing the bar. "Listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness!" She poured more shots, one for Damon and another for Aria. "Drink up!

Damon chugged the shot and smacked his lips, then after a glance at Aria- to which Aria nodded her go ahead, he downed her shot as well.

"Ahh," Bree sighed in content. "Whoo!" She cheered and faced Aria. "So, how'd he rope you in?"

"He kidnapped me, threatened me and then compelled me," Aria answered with ease.

"Well _that_ definitely deserves a shot," Bree poured another and nudged it towards Aria. At her hesitance, the bartender smiled. "Go ahead, one won't hurt."

Aria glanced at Damon, saw him looking at her with a hidden emotion in his gaze. _Fuck it_ , Aria thought and downed the glass. It burned her throat and tears welled in her eyes, but the heat warmed her and calmed her nerves. She coughed a few times, trying to clear the taste from her mouth.

Damon chuckled and rubbed her back in support. As he did so, he introduced the two. "Bree, this is Aria. Aria, this is Bree."

"Nice to meet you, sorry to see who you're with. He is good in the sack, isn't he? But mostly he's just a Walk-Away Joe." She grinned at Aria, then turned to Damon. "So, what is it that you want?"

"Another way into the tomb," Damon stated, straight to the point. "Can't use the amulet, there's some weird mojo on it."

"What kind of mojo?"

"The bad kind."

Bree huffed. "All right, I get it. Ya'll have got your secrets, mmk." She looked between the two of them. "I'll tell you what, stick around for a while. I'll see what I can think up."

Damon smirked. "I'd love to. Free drinks, for old time's sake?"

Bree's only answer was to pour another round.

X

Elena had long since grown tired from trying to calm her aunt down and also dealing with a call from Stefan. She'd hung up on him, 'cause he'd been a giant pain in her butt and she wasn't in the mood to forgive him for the lies he'd told. She shut her phone off, silencing it because Jenna was calm and she didn't want to take any more calls.

Resolute in her decision, Elena brushed back her hair and fixed her shirt up before stalking up to the bar. It'd maybe been an hour that she'd left the two lovebirds alone, and Elena still wasn't sure how she felt about the whole Damon/Aria thing. Sure, they'd had something odd going on between the two of them for the past few months, but now it seemed to Elena that the two were… dating?

When Stefan had explained to her how Damon was _using_ Aria, Elena had felt sick. Damon's utter disrespect for women had really peeved her off. Now it seemed he had a thing for Aria, and Elena would be hesitant to think that maybe he... _felt_ for Aria.

The two of them had a super weird relationship, that was for sure.

She had to admit though, it was nice that they'd taken her on a roadtrip. The getaway from Stefan had been therapeutic for Elena, and on top of that she was able to find out more about Katherine from Damon- though she would've much rathered that Stefan had been the one to tell her. It hadn't been very fun for her to see that photo.

Either way, she entered the bar eager to relax with her new sorta-friends.

Too bad she seemed to have missed out on all the fun.

Aria and Damon were holding each other as they swayed back and forth to non-existent music, balancing precariously on top of the bartop. Elena frowned as she noticed how Damon was whispering in the girl's ear, eliciting hearty laughter from the redhead in his arms.

There was a scatter of empty shot glasses at their feet.

"Hey guys," Elena said as she edged closer to the possibly-drunk couple. "What'd I miss?"

"Damon challenged me to a dance off, and I won!" Arai exclaimed happily as she jumped down from the bar, leaving a pouting Damon behind. "Bree's giving us free drinks."

"I can see that."

The vampire took his time climbing down from the bar and he ended up sat on the timber surface, legs swinging back and forth as he smirked down at the two girls. "Only because I let Aria win and only because she got to pick the music."

"Shut up, you lost fair and square. Square and fair," Aria let out a giggle as she swayed over to Damon, burying her face against his chest. "You know if I was a lesser woman I'd say that you looked hecka hot when you were dancing."

"And if I were a lesser man I would brush aside that compliment. I'm not though." Damon pressed a long messy kiss to the top of Aria's head. "You're compliment makes me happy and that's because it's true. I was _so_ sexy, Elena probably would've dropped her panties for me."

"Did you guys get what you came for?" Elena asked as she felt her lips curl in amusement.

"Yes and no," Aria answered.

At the same time, Damon spoke. "No and yes."

"Hey! You stole my line!"

"Of course. If anyone's going to be the center of attention, it's going to be me."

"Actually I'm pretty sure females take up more screen time than men."

"Well that's just sexist."

Aria smiled suddenly, bright and sweet. "No _you're_ the sexiest."

The two then continued their drunken love spat and Elena found herself watching in bemusement. "They're stupidly cute, right?"

Elena turned to see a lady with chestnut hair, wiping down a table. She had a look of utter mirth on her face, entertained at the couple's expense.

"Yes. As weird as it is that they're together, I can't say they aren't adorable with each other."

"You got something against them?"

"Not both, just Damon." Elena watched as Bree took a seat, and Elena graciously slid into one of her own. She stared across at the lady, couldn't help but notice the wisdom hiding in her gaze. "He didn't treat her right for a long time. I don't know why he's suddenly acting like she's the sun."

"Never seen it myself to tell you to truth. Couldn't say what he's up to."

Elena watched as Damon pulled Aria to his front, both were standing close now. He ducked his head and pressed a dainty kiss to her mouth before pulling back and flashing her a blinding smile- somewhat dopey from intoxication. "You think he's planning something?"

"A man like him never does anything without a plan…. unless…."

"Unless?"

The woman sighed and rubbed at her forehead, then peeked up at Elena with a shadowed gaze. "Unless he cares about her."

"Does he?"

"I can't say for sure" They watched as Damon brushed aside Aria's messy fringe, tucking it behind her ear and treating her like a delicate flower made of the most precious of petals. "But from what I've seen?" Elena looked back at the strange lady, ochre eyes locking with perplexed amber ones.

"Yeah," the bartender spoke. "I reckon he just might."

X

I sitll can't believe anyone actually reads this story, you guys are awesome. Hope you've had a good day!

P.S. I finished Vampire Diaries, I am all caught up and I'm sad because apparently Damon's becoming a drunk next season :(:( If only Daria was cannon.


	13. Chapter 13

MaddisenK : Omg your fangirling made me blush so hard XD XD thank you so much bae (heart) It was literally way too sweet what u said.

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DarkDust27: Thank u, you're way too kind. You've reviewed like.. every chapter and you'll never know how much I appreciate that :)

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* * *

Much to Aria's relief, she didn't have a hangover on the drive back home. Probably because she was pretty sure Elena had forced her to drink a few gallons of water- Although her memory of that day was fairly unreliable. Damon had allowed Elena to sit in the front because he wanted Aria to have the back seat.

Which meant she could lie down and stretch out, a prime position for her to travel. Only… Aria found herself not wanting to travel. It was kind of nice to lie there and listen to Elena hum the tune of the songs that played on the radio, chat with Damon about how much of a butthead Stefan was.

In the back of her mind she also went over the information Bree had supplied. It was the same stuff she said on the show, only the night didn't end with Damon ripping out the witches heart. Instead it ended with a request that they come visit more often.

Over all, the roadtrip was a pretty big success.

X

Damon dropped Elena home first and the brunette gave them both a hearty goodbye before disappearing inside of her home. Aria turned a surprised gaze in Damon's direction. "You know, is it just me or have we managed to win her over?"

"Oh God, I hope not," Damon groaned as he started driving again.

"Yeah I've gotta admit that her moral supremacy tends to get boring after a while, plus she's _way_ too in love with Stefan. It's like the only thing she talks to us about.

"Mhmm," he hummed in agreement. "I don't need _any more_ teens in my life, thank you very much."

Aria turned a curious gaze to the vampire. "Am I supposed to be offended?"

"Sure!" Damon chirped. "Then we get to have awesome make-up make-outs all afternoon… _Wow_ , that's a tongue twister."

Aria couldn't hold back her laugh. "And it _will_ be a tongue twister."

"Ooo, is french kissing on the table?"

"Not unless you ever get me home. I'm pretty sure kissing whilst driving is just as bad as texting."

Damon's eyes widened. "That's the issue? Me driving?" He flashed a sultry smirk and a moment later he was pulling the car over to the side of the road.

"You're kidding. Damon... We're nearly back to my place, can't this wait?"

"Maybe you can wait," he switched the car to park and pulled the handbrake before swiveling in his seat to lean over her, one hand darting out to brace himself against the window. "But I can't."

Aria felt herself smile at his antics as he pressed a kiss to her. It was more passionate than usual, and had she been a different girl she probably would have tried for something more. His affection was more than enough though, so Aria let herself enjoy the intimacy and lost herself in Damon's warmth. It was unbelievably perfect, and Damon kept to his promise, sticking to tender kisses and gentle touches to the soft skin of her arms.

"This okay?" He asked as their foreheads touched, Damon's breath wafting over Aria's swollen lips.

She gave him a small smile, let her hand sneak around his waist to grip at his shirt. "It's perfect. _You're_ perfect."

Her words were nothing but the truth. Damon was treating her exactly how she'd imagined her s/o to. He wasn't greedy with his touches, wanting more and daring to press the boundaries she'd set. No, he was better than anything she could've expected. He seemed to work magic with such simple affections and Aria was stunned he'd managed to put aside his dickish ways… just for _her_.

"Awesome," Damon said and his lips curved into a beautiful smile as he bent down to meet her lips again with an adoring kiss. Aria savoured the moment, savoured the kind and caring Damon that she was having the honor to meet.

It was so wonderful for her to get to see him improve every day. It wasn't the fact he was practicing more self-restraint, if she were being honest she'd never really much cared about the fact Damon Salvatore killed people. He was a vampire. Vampires simply outranked humans. And as a human Aria didn't have the right to judge him. No... she was happy because he was improving in the emotional sense. Every day his gaze seemed to become less troubled, less haunted. She was sure it wasn't just because of her actions, but it was incredibly gratifying to know she'd played a part in it.

He had opened up to her and she would _never_ take that for granted.

Aria had never felt so cared for and appreciate than in that very moment, and she just hoped that Damon could tell she felt the same way about him. That she cared for him, that he meant so much to her- that he made her life _better_. Without him, she'd been alone and living a life where she spent every day watching T.V. Now he'd opened up a whole new world for her that she would forever be thankful for.

Even if she had to put up with some of the supernatural BS that seemed to orbit the Salvatore.

It was a while later that Damon parted their kissing spiel with a sigh as he settled back into his seat. Aria sucked her lower lip into her mouth in an attempt to desensitize them, and to remember the addictive taste of Damon. It was an odd, tangy flavour that stemmed from the rusty zing of blood and the peppermint freshness of his toothpaste. Aria found herself not all that grossed out by it, but it was something that would take a lot of getting used to.

"I feel like I'm a modern day teen or something, keeping everything first base."

Aria felt her heart clench at his words, and she couldn't help but sound a bitter reply. "Well at least if I was a normal kid you'd have a chance at second, third, all the way to fourth base."

"You make it sound as though I should be disappointed."

She frowned. "Aren't you?"

"Please, Aria, I'm not some horny white kid that needs to get some. I'm a hundred year old vampire, by now I have sex down to a science. A very predictable and unnecessary science. I can handle going without for however long I want to."

Aria remained silent as he started the car up again. She knew he wanted her to say something, but for the life of her she couldn't think of anything appropriate to say in response to that. His words had confused her more than they'd reassured, and she found herself feeling guilty for forcing Damon to make this choice.

"But don't you like sex?"

Damon quirked a brow. "Of course I do," he answered and Aria felt her stomach drop. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to admit her feelings, she was tying him down, holding him back from something he loved and- "But I like you more."

Aria froze. "What?"

The vampire turned, cerulean eyes sparkling in amusement. "You heard me. Sure, it was a cheesy way to admit it, but that seems to be the only times that you actually listen to me."

There was a moment where neither spoke and the only sound was Damon's car as it rumbled around a bend, but it wasn't long before Aria gave up on trying to hide her insecurity. "You'd tell me if it wasn't okay, right? If you were sick of my broken ways already?

"I swear you're getting as angsty as Stefan," Damon complained, but with a sarcastic smirk that lessened the blow. He shifted gears, blue eyes trained on the road before him. "Aria, if I was bored of you I would've compelled you and left already. I wouldn't have dressed up as Buffy just to make you feel better."

"You would've though, to be the center of attention."

"True, but you can't say the same about everything else."

Damon's words brought memories the forefront of her mind. She recalled how he'd saved her life, twice. How Damon had compelled a _crow_ to watch over her and make sure she was all right and that time he bought her a milkshake to make her feel better. It had taken her so long to allow herself to let him in, to believe he might actually care for her.

Yet, all along she'd had a plethora of evidence that he _cared_ , and now here she was worrying about the same damn issue when he'd just went on a roadtrip with _Elena_ _ **Judgy**_ _Gilbert_ just because Aria had asked him to.

"I really can't," Aria admitted. "I mean, you held me as I cried. That's some real commitment right there."

" _And_ I let you trash my favorite shirt because of that. Tears ruin piqué cotton, y'know."

"I have no idea what that means but you should know I appreciate your selfless actions."

"Damn right you should, I had to go out and get a new shirt, and let me tell you- compulsion is hard work."

Aria sent him a withered expression. "Oh, I'm sure."

"Mhmm, and then on top of that I had to go a week without my favorite shirt. Everyone probably thought I looked off my game."

"I can assure you that no matter what you wear, you look downright breathtaking."

He smirked and feigned bashfulness, tilting his head like the adorable cinnamon roll he was. "Naww, you're totally right, though it still doesn't make my week of torment okay."

"Yup," Aria agreed, amused by his shenanigans. "Damon, care to explain how we got into an argument about shirts?"

"I have no idea," Damon admitted, which ended with them both grinning like fools. Luckily Damon pulled up to Aria's house at that very moment to save them from further clothing-related discussion. He parked the car, then did that valiant thing where he sped around to her side and opened her door for her. "After you, Princess."

"Why thank you good sir." She accepted his offered hand Perhaps you could also do my chores for the next week."

Damon gave her an adoring smirk. "Nope."

"Well, shit."

He led her up to the door and then much to her confusion, he knocked on it a few times.

"What are you doing?" Aria asked, baffled because she had her own set of keys in her pocket. They didn't need someone to open the door for them.

Damon just gave her a bored look in answer.

It was a few moments before the door opened and Aria's mother stood on the other side. The lady smiled widely when she noticed Damon, the friggin' charmer. "Damon! Aria! So good to have you back. Come in, come in," her mother stepped aside and allowed them through with a happy greeting.

"Ma…" Aria began, a little bewildered. "I've been gone for two days without a word, and you're not mad?"

"I trust that Damon kept you safe and made sure you were unharmed."

Aria felt herself tense in frustration. "But shouldn't you at least ground me for not letting you know first? Or reprimand me? Or do _something_ other than smile and wave and act like a **fucking** puppet-"

"That's enough," Damon grabbed onto her arm. He then directed another bold smirk to the elder Bailey, who seemed a little puzzled at her daughter's outburst. "How about you make us some hot chocolate? Hmm?" Aria didn't fail to notice the ominous sound of his voice and the way he maintained eye contact with her mother. _Compulsion? For fucks sake_.

"Ooo, that's a wonderful idea! You two have fun, I'll bring it to you in a jiffy!"

She gave them both beaming grins before toddling off into the kitchen.

Aria felt Damon's gaze on her, but she didn't bother acknowledging it and instead stormed up the stairs and into the room. She slammed the door in a petulant act but of course Damon just zipped on through before her action had any effect.

"What's wrong?" Damon asked as he grabbed onto her, keeping her still and frozen under his intense expression. "I've never seen you get so mad before, to be honest it was kind of hot-"

"Shut it," Aria cut him off. "You _know_ what's wrong. How my parents are acting? It's creepy and I'm sick of putting up with it. I want you to stop compelling them, I want them to be able to make their own choices, not just indulge your wishes."

"How about… No."

"Damon!"

He smirked and pressed closer, eyes gliding down Aria's body as he rubbed his arm in a soothing manner. "Why don't we just forget about your parents? They're happy, I'm happy so you're happy. Right? That's all that matters. So what if they don't ground you or get mad about us? That's the point of compulsion. It makes life easier for everyone."

"I'll never get used to it."

"And I'm not asking you too. Come on, I understand where you're coming from-" He paused. "Actually, I don't. Compulsion rocks." Aria sighed at his words. He was such a friggin' goofball. "Anyway. We've got hot chocolate incoming so why don't you set up another of your movies and we'll waste away the rest of today, together."

Aria wasn't exactly happy with how the discussion had ended, but she did have to admit that compulsion did seem to make things a lot either. Without it, her parents would've long since kicked Damon's ass out of the house and probably called the cops on him. Sure, it went against every moral fibre in her being, but for the safety of everyone involved she figured it was best if her parents remained stuck in their cloud of ignorance.

Damon was still waiting for an answer, head still ducked low as he searched her gaze. His own cerulean gems were so close, so beautiful at that proximity. They sparkled with feelings of an overwhelming intensity that rivaled her own.

She gave him a shrug, a quirk of her lips. "Fine," she said and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "But we're watching Lilo & Stitch."

"Really? A Disney movie?" Damon sighed as he followed her to the bed. "I did not sign up for this."

"Tough luck, sweet cheeks," was all that Aria bothered to respond with.

When her mother brought the hot chocolate Damon took both for himself.

X

Damon left late that afternoon after bribing Aria into watching a series of crappy horror movies. How he'd managed to win control of her laptop, Aria would never understand. He left her with a fond kiss before jumping out of her window.

Pretty hardcore stuff.

Aria had then wasted some time in her other world, enjoying a break after her non-stop 48+ hours hanging with Damon Salvatore. It was nice to relax and continue watching 'Lost', which was really weird because it also featured Ian Somerhalder. Except… after spending so long with Damon in her life it was almost like watching an entirely different person, despite Boone Carlyle looking like an exact copy, albeit younger copy, of her current s/o.

She was pondering the philosophy of it all when a tingle at the back of her mind drew her to her other world. Sure enough, her freshly charged phone was beeping as it received a series of text messages.

She opened them, and smiled as she read through the series of texts from Jeremy.

 **Shaggy**

 **Today** 3:15 PM

 _Ugh. it feels so weird writing this assignment_

 _when i know vampires r real. mybe i shuld_

 _change topics._

 _._

 _nvm too much work, save me._

 _._

 _if u rnt busy, mind coming over and helping_

 _me? or we culd meet at the grill._

Aria had to agree with him. She would be seriously conflicted if she had to write an assignment on vampires being a metaphor for whatever it was. She considered his request, then quickly replied.

 **Shaggy**

 **Today** 3:17 PM

 _The grill sounds good. be there in twenty._

He replied with a few party popper emoticons and Aria smiled as she got up to grab her things.

X

"You know, why don't you consider a more creative approach. There's tonnes of reports on animal attacks that fit the definition of a vampire kill to a 'T'. Maybe discuss the kind of… conspiracy theory of it all and how in the past some have fallen victim to such conjecture."

Jeremy hummed, flipping through the notes he had taken in the past few days. Aria was glad they'd managed to snag a booth at such a busy hour. There were people milling about and crowing the space, but Jeremy had flashed a cute smile at one of the waitresses and they'd landed a seat. Aria had been a little flustered, but she had to admit Shaggy had game.

"It could work," Jeremy flipped a sheet over then grinned. "I can reference the stories in ancestor's journal, make comparisons. Hmm, can't believe I didn't think of that."

"It would be cool too if you brought in how a lot of these attacks and missing persons are specific to Mystic Falls. That way you can throw in the theory that there are vampires in our quaint little down."

Jeremy chuckled and nodded, jotting down some notes on his laptop. "I'm sure your boyfriend would get a kick out of this."

"He would," Aria agreed with her own laugh. "Though he'd probably rip both our heads off for bringing up the animal attacks."

"Right, because I'm sure about sixty percent of them were his doing."

Aria smiled. "So true. Hey, we should see if he'd be willing to give us a statement."

"Yeah," Jeremy grinned. "I'm sure my teacher would love that. An 'actual vampire' giving us recounts of all the strange activities in Mystic Falls."

"Actually, you're teacher's a vampire hunter, so he probably would."

Jeremy paused his typing. "A what?"

"Vampire hunter. Like Buffy, but not as cute." Aria knew that she'd just relieved some pretty sensitive information so she hurried to explain. "Not even Damon knows about this, yet, but Alaric is a vampire hunter. He kills vampires, stakes then through the heart. It's hardcore stuff."

"Wait… How do _you_ know this?"

"I kind of saw it." It was obvious that Jeremy didn't understand. "I have this ability to see the future, kind of."

"So what… You witnessed Alaric stake a vampire?"

"Pretty much. Except the same vampire was killed by Damon in this timeline."

"Hold on, go back to the whole future thing."

Aria winced at how lost Jeremy looked. "Too much to spring on the first study date?"

"Technically it's our second," Jeremy responded, not missing a beat. "How does it work? How do you see this stuff? A crystal ball?"

"Funny you should mention that, Damon actually bought me one for halloween." Aria flicked through her textbook as she considered the best way to explain. "It sort of just… happened. I've been able to see things since I was a little girl."

"This is turning into some freaky Ghost whisperer stuff." Jeremy frowned as he ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. He seemed intent to listen though, and wasn't looking at Aria as though she was crazy. It was better than how anyone else had reacted to her story. Damon? He'd kidnapped her. Her parents? Nearly sent her to a facility. Friends? Pfft.

"Um, but back to the topic-"

"What have you seen about me?" Jeremy asked before Aria could try and take control of the conversation again. "In that future."

"Well you stop looking so shaggy," Aria told him, earning a smile from the younger teen. "You were also supposed to have this vampire named Anna as a study buddy, but she left town because I may have said some things that ended with Damon sending her away. Damon's scary as hell when he's threatening someone. We probably won't see her 'round here anytime soon."

"Hold up, so you knew I'd need help in the library the other day?"

 _Damn_ , Aria thought. He caught on fast. "Yes."

"So you bumped into me on purpose."

"Yeah," Aria tilted her head in curiosity. "Why?"

"Nothing… it's just…"

"What?"

Jeremy heaved a sigh. "It doesn't matter now. This vision thing, you ever see lotto numbers?"

"No!" Aria replied in a disbelieving squeak. "Even if I do, you will never get me to tell."

"Oh really? What if we split the money." A teasing smile bloomed to life on Jeremy's face. "Or what if I promise to buy you dinner?"

"Buy me dinner?" Aria repeated, puzzled.

"I mean.. you and Damon."

"Aww, that's sweet," Aria chuckled. "But the answer's still no."

"Then what do you use all the future wisdom for?" Jeremy clasped his hands and leant forward, knees brushing against Aria's. "It's like you have a… super power."

"Heh." At his words Aria had to think back on all the things she'd done, everything she'd changed since coming to Mystic Falls. _Let's see_ … She'd stopped Caroline from becoming Damon's toy, kept Anna from hurting a whole bunch of people, not to mention she'd persuaded the town's most impulsive vampire _not_ to kill her. "Oh! I used it to befriend the local witch."

"Who?"

"Bonnie, Elena's friend. She's a witch by the way."

"A witch?"

 _Oops_ , TMI. "Maybe we should just get back to the assignment. School before supernatural calamities."

"No you can't just say that without an explanation."

Hmm. Aria peered around to glance at the blank word document on Jeremy's laptop."That won't do," she decided and opened her text-book to the right page. "Tell you what, each paragraph you write, I'll give you more info on our super-freaky world."

Jeremy paused and Aria watched as he weighed his options. "All right, but if I'm gonna work I need more food. You up for sharing a plate of nachos?"

Aria grinned. Nachos were her ultimate snack food. "Definitely, but if we're going to stick around for a while longer I need to make a call first."

He paused. "We good?"

"Yeah." Aria slid out from the booth at the same time Jeremy did. Their hands brushed accidently as Aria went to pull out her phone. "I'll be right back."

X

I'm sorry these last few chapters are running short. I've caught up on TVD episodes so I'm kind of running out of inspiration. On top of that, ya'll are pretty much up to the stuff I'm writing NOW, IKR, sad isn't it? I'm out of my pre-written stuff so you'll just have to wait longer for updates now. I'm super sorry but I'll try to write as fast as my inspiration strikes!


	14. Chapter 14

binderya22 : I hope Bizarre means good!~ and thank you im glad ur enjoying it!

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LapisLazuliRose : I'm glad you noticed his 'moves'! Aria's kind of being a little bit oblivious of it because she doesn't quite see him in 'that' way yet.

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Wow guys... I'm stunned by your response. Recon you guys can keep that up? hehe but anyways, ily guys sm. You make writing this over 70k story worth it XD

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* * *

Damon had gone home to his wonderful house with a hope to dig into a good few fifths of scotch and kick back by the fire. Maybe he'd even have some time to mess with Stefan for a bit. It always lifted his mood when his little brother tried his best to kill him with a simple glower. It was cute, really, Damon thought. Stefan was still such a teeny-booper, even at a hundred years of age.

Much to his disappointment though, his plans were ruined.

Sometimes his super-awesome vampire hearing was… well, super-awesome. As he walked into his home that afternoon though, his vampire hearing was super-poopy, because it was attuned enough that he could hear his brother and his brother's judgy brunette getting friendly right upstairs. "Well I guess that means you two made up," Damon said to the air and then promptly ran away. A coward? No way. Damon just had zero, and he _meant_ **zero** interest in hearing his brother do such things to a girl he was considering to put on the 'do not kill unless super annoying' list.

So that left him without his scotch but at least he still had his sanity.

Damon figured it was for the best though. He could be doing far more productive things than sitting down and kicking up his seven hundred dollar heels. One of which was to get his car washed, and yes as mundane as it was, vampires did need to get their cars washed. If he was going to be seen driving the thing around such a dull town he would do so once it had a nice hose down, polish and wax.

And with that thought Damon threw on his shades and climbed into his dusty ride. His Camaro had handled the road trip well and she deserved a good spa day for her hard work.

Damon cranked up the radio, blasting whatever crap Aria had tuned it to. It wasn't utter shit so he let it play, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. It had been a good few days for him, which normally meant something awful was about to happen, except Damon had a funny feeling that with Aria around maybe...- _Heh_ , who was he kidding? At least either way there'd be someone for him to hug 'till he felt better.

Eugh. His life had become a damn teen-drama flick.

Once he'd reached the only worthy car wash in twenty miles, Damon went ahead and compelled them to give his beauty all the best treatments and to take good care of her. Once he was assured they wouldn't fuck up- he made sure to cover every basis, humans were so clumsy- Damon gave them the keys and then started his vigorous journey all the way to the local bar.

As he walked he tried to calculate the exact amount he could drink before ruining his date with Aria that night. "Wait," Damon said aloud to himself with a scoff. He didn't _need_ to worry about being drunk on their date, Aria would be cool with it if he showed up completely wasted. Her devotion to him was uncanny, but at the same time, supremely flattering.

Still, Damon decided he best not go that far. He did want to remember the night after all. He pondered what they might get up to, more Disney movies? Homework? Damon was disappointed and strangely content with those ideas. He settled on making sure not to let the night be wasted on movies or over-used textbooks. He was going to take Aria **out** , maybe to a nice restaurant or some dark corner of a theater where he could just _ravish_ her the whole time.

Yes, Damon was much more content with this idea.

He shoved open the bar door with a flick of his wrist, strolling in like he owned the place because he very easily could if he wanted to. There were a few sad drunks taking up the place but Damon just grabbed the closest one he saw, hauled him off the chair and snatched his gaze. "Thanks for keeping the seat warm for me, now go home."

The drunk just slurred in response, but he started walking towards the exit. Satisfied, Damon took his place and tapped the counter. When the tired looking bartender ambled over Damon ordered his usual. It didn't take long for the cool glass to be placed into his hands, and he knocked back a few sips in quick succession.

It was good, but the boarding house had a far better selection of grown-up juice. Damon eyed the empty glass, and then tapped the counter again to order another drink.

He was halfway through his second glass of amber gold and enjoying a pleasant buzz flowing through his system when a rather hot strawberry blonde decided to make friendly with the stool beside him. Damon, in his inebriated state, couldn't help but let himself admire the tight form of her stomach, her tanned skin and the the tits of someone who'd had a _very_ rich husband at some point in history.

Once he'd gotten his ogling out of the way, he raised his gaze to notice that the drop-dead gorgeous woman was staring at him. "Like what you see?"

He almost laughed at her forwardness. "I do indeed, but I'm not interested."

"Oh?" The woman's emerald green eyes grew wide. If Damon had been a teensy bit more sober he probably would've noticed the stunning topaz flecks in her shining gems.

At that moment though he was too busy smiling as he thought about the reason for his uninterested-ness: A beautiful Princess with stunning red hair and dazzling brown eyes. "See I've got a girlfriend. She's way out of my league and I totally don't deserve her after the shit I've done, but hey, I'll take what I can get." He took a long swig of his drink, for such a sappy statement he needed to be at least 30% more drunk. "So that means no more fuck ups. Yup, hundred percent not interested."

He surprised himself when he realized that was the truth.

So lost in his thoughts about how hard he was crushing on Aria and how badly he wanted her to be there with him, having fun and laughing in that musical way of hers, that he kind of forgot about the 11/10 that was seated next to him… at least until she spoke up. "That's actually really sweet. I wouldn't have pegged you for a good guy."

"Oh I'm really not," Damon tilted the glass, swallowing the last of his drink. "But I'm good at focusing on only one girl. I had a thing for this other girl for the _longesssttt_ time and then Aria came along and _bam_. As the great Michael Jackson once said, she rocked my world."

"Do you still have a thing for this other girl?"

Damn, what was with all the deep questions? Damon waved at the bartender, ordering another drink. "Yes," he found himself answering, admitting to something he was… not _afraid_ , Damon didn't fear nothin'... but maybe just a bit hesitant to consider how he felt about K-a-t-h-e-r-i-n-e. "My feelings for that little vixen are nothing in comparison to how I feel about Aria. Aria's funny, she's like the only one who gets my jokes, which is annoying because I'm a freaking _comedian_. She also happens to be the _most_ forgiving person I've ever met, and trust me, I've met a _lot_ of people."

Before he could continue, his phone chimed in his pocket, saving him from more of his drunken ramblings. He pulled it out, peeking at the screen. "Oh hey, it's my new G-F." His mouth pulled into a sloppy smile as he freed the phone from his jeans. "My girlfriend, Aria."

"I got that," the blonde babe giggled, patting his thigh. "Goodluck."

Damon nodded his goodbye and quickly downed his drink before meandering off to find a quiet spot. After a few minutes of aimless wandering he found himself a secluded place and hit the answer button with only a bit of fumbling. He felt his heart warm in excitement, eager to hear Aria's vibrant voice after _soooo_ long. Like a whole… three (?) hours. "Mmm'y'ello my Princess, how are you this fine evening? You know I was just thinking 'bout how awesome you are and how grateful I am that you managed to keep me from killing you."

"It took a lot of work," Aria admitted, a sigh carrying through the speaker. Damon couldn't help but grin. See? She was fucking perfect. "I can hear you've been digging into the good stuff, so I'll keep this simple. Jeremy needs my help for his assignment, so I'm going to postpone our date…"

"Oh," Damon felt a pout form on his face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it kind of just came up. I figured that we could just push it back to later tonight though, right?"

At Aria's apologetic tone, Damon just knew he couldn't deny her. Besides, what did it matter if he had to wait a few more hours? It gave him time to work on some of his plans and it meant the whole 'Jeremy needing help on his assignments' thing would be over sooner. "Sounds good."

"Great! Okay. Well… I'll see you soon, then?"

Damon smirked, fingers curling around the phone. "See you soon, Princess."

And then they hung up and Damon headed for the exit, intent to pick up his car and hit the road. He had a sudden bout of inspiration and he just _had_ to follow up on his new awesome idea.

Only… he was stopped by a light grip on his elbow.

"Hey, before you go-" It was the blonde, green eyes peering up at him with an edge of hesitance. "I just thought I ought to tell you, this girl you've got now? Don't ever let her go. She seems to make you truly happy, and someone like that is rare to come by these days."

Damon wasn't sure if it was the alcohol talking, or whether the woman was speaking some real wisdom right at that moment, but he found himself profoundly moved by her words. "I won't," he promised her, promised himself, promised _Aria_. "Bye then."

The blonde's mouth twisted to form a pleased expression. "Goodbye, Damon."

Maybe if Damon hadn't have been so drunk he would've realised that he'd never told the girl his name. Welp, too bad.

X

"Wait, so… witches, vampires _and_ werewolves?"

"Yes! I think you're finally catching on; Our town is a madhouse," Aria laughed and turned his laptop just a bit so she could see the screen better. She'd had to relocate to the other side of the booth because it was getting too hard correcting his spelling from across the table, so the two teens were sitting closely with their thighs pressing. The new proximity made it tonnes easier for Aria to just grab the laptop when she needed to and turn it just right. "Okay, next paragraph…"

"The conclusion?" Jeremy offered with a bright smile.

Aria blinked and then noticed the wordcount. Wow. They'd actually managed to finish it? "Oh, yeah, you're right." She turned and grinned, full of pride at the young man for doing such a good job. "You do nice work, maybe you might just pass."

"It's only because you saved my ass."

"I can't take all the credit. You wrote it." Aria saved the document, then saved again… just in case. "You're a smart little dork under all that hair of yours."

Jeremy groaned, leaning to the side so he could glare at her. "Really? Will the hair jokes ever stop?"

"Not until you cut it off."

His eyes widened. "You got something against my style?"

"The whole brooding/emo thing has been done a million times over. I'm all about wearing what makes you comfortable, but I'm pretty sure you're only dressing like that to express your sadness over your loss."

Jeremy's lips twitched, and Aria realised she'd gone _way_ too far with her last comment. "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"I guess your psychic stuff shows you some of the more personal things too?" Jeremy guessed, hands clasping, thumbs fiddling as a sign of his discomfort. "Look… Even if you're right I'm still not ready to change some things, not yet."

"And that's totally fine!" Aria hurried to agree in earnest. "You deserve as much time as you want to work through things. Again, I'm so sorry I brought that up it was so rude of me."

Jeremy just shook his head slowly, pulling the laptop back towards him. "Let's just get this conclusion done."

"Okay." Aria pushed aside her guilt and focused on the task at hand. "Something simple. Just restate your original statement and reinforce all of your main arguments. Did Alaric say he would draft it for you?"

"I didn't ask." Jeremy's fingers danced over the keyboard, and Aria was impressed for the dozenth time by what he wrote. He really was an incredibly smart kid, and she knew if she hadn't been a few grades ahead of him Aria wouldn't have been able to keep up. "Thank God I have you helping me out."

Aria smiled, humbled by his gratefulness. It didn't take him long to finish the last paragraph, and she found it to be perfect. "Yes!" She grabbed the boy around the shoulder, pulling him into a tight hug. "This is amazing. A+, gold star and if I had one, a 'well done' sticker."

"Really?" Jeremy asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

"I'm serious." Aria started packing away her books, glad with the work they'd gotten done. "So if you want we can get some takeaway milkshakes to celebrate and I'll drop you home."

He shrugged. "Sure, but you don't have to drop me off."

"I don't _have_ to, but maybe I just want an excuse to show Elena I can be a good friend."

Jeremy peered at her in curiosity. "But I thought you said everything was good after the trip?"

Aria had to admit she was a bit surprised he'd been listening to her so intently. That'd been one of the many less-interesting facts she'd mentioned that afternoon. _Hmm_ , Aria was growing more and more thankful that she'd bothered to bring the teen into their rag-tag group of supernatural know-it-alls. "It is… I think, but I'm always up for bonus points." Aria hooked her satchel over her shoulder and directed a hearty smile in Jeremy's direction. "Besides, I like spending time with you."

"Then you should help me with all my subjects." Jeremy told her in a rhetorical fashion, but it gave Aria an idea. "I'm behind in everything. Maybe I should just drop and try to council all the crazy monsters that are running around."

"You know, we actually need a supernatural-psychologist." Aria waited as he put away his laptop. She could see Jeremy listening to the sad tales some vampires had, or talk a werewolf through their transition. Hell, maybe he'd be able to knock some sense into all of the originals that'd show up eventually. Why wouldn't they listen to a fifteen year old boy? "No but, I'm totally cool with tutoring you if that's what you want. I've got way too much time on my hands."

"You'd want to tutor me?"

"Well I think that it would definitely get me in Elena's good books. On top of that I get to help a kid get his life back on track, and to top all of that off I have a reason to study more." Aria couldn't see the downside to her idea. Jeremy was fun to hang out with, given she steered clear of awkward conversations. Maybe if she helped him he'd even have a better life. It was wishful thinking, but Aria couldn't be faulted for being optimistic. "Besides, you're fun to hang with."

"I think you've given me _way_ too many compliments." Jeremy commented. They started walking side by side towards the door, but Aria quickly redirected them towards the bar to order some milkshakes. "You're serious about the drinks? We've already had one."

"Well… Now we're having two," Aria chirped and placed their order.

Jeremy sighed, though he seemed pretty pleased to be getting another freebie milkshake. "So what's your favorite class you're taking?"

"We're going to start with the mundane questions now? What happened to the intense inquisition about how vampires shaved if they couldn't see each other in the mirror?"

"I figured out the answer. Vampires all meet up and shave each other."

Aria gaped. "That is _genius_. You should write a self-help book for the undead."

"Yeah. I'll call it 'you've got 99 problems but at least you're only 99% dead'."

"Oh that's brilliant. I'll totally proof it for you."

"Aww," Jeremy chuckled. "Really?"

"Are you kidding? It would be an _honor_." Aria gave him a wide grin just as their milkshakes were planted on the counter. She handed over the money, and grabbed her vanilla-shake. "You'd have to pay me in milkshakes though."

"And nachos."

Aria nodded. "And nachos."

"We'd make a good team." Jeremy took a sip from his shake, the chocolate goodness flowing up through his clear straw. "So I can't say I'm excited to go home."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Either Elena is going to be there, and if she is there then Stefan will be with her. Or she won't be there and my aunt Jenna will try another of her 'talks'."

Aria winced in sympathy. So maybe her parents hadn't exactly been all that strict lately, she still remembered the many times they went overboard on the whole 'parenting' thing. "I think that… with your aunt, I'm no psych-student, but it's a good sign that she's trying. It's a good sign that you're starting to try too. Maybe just… tell her that."

"And say what exactly? I'm sorry for being such a brat, and _still_ being such a brat, but I wrote an assignment on vampires to get extra credit for that one subject that doesn't even really help my overall grade."

"Or… you could tell her that you're trying to get your life on track, and that you just want a space to work through things on your own."

Jeremy paused, and it was with perfect timing that they stopped in front of Aria's car. She let the teen consider her words as she unlocked the doors. "She'd never trust me on that."

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit," Aria told the boy, because she knew if he asked her to trust him on something like that, she'd say yes in a heartbeat. Then again, it was probably because she sorta-kinda knew the future. "Now, do you wanna ride shotgun?"

"Um. That'd be good." Jeremy opened the passenger door and slid into the seat. Aria did the same, and then lifted her hand to rest it on the center console but Jeremy did as well. She pulled her hand back when their fingers brushed and rested it on the steering wheel. Jeremy huffed an amused sound. "You know, why don't you act as my spokesperson for me?"

"Okay Jenna _definitely_ would not appreciate that."

"Yeah well what if you hid behind me and I mimed talking?"

Aria couldn't help but let out a laugh, imagining the ridiculousness of such a situation. "I mean if you wanna try that…"

"No, that's okay." He sighed, turning his milkshake absent mindedly. "I guess I'm just going to have to talk to her. You really think I can pull it off?"

"If you can't, we've just found our backup plan," Aria reminded him, oh-so-helpful. She started the car and pulled out of the Grill parking lot. After a moment of contemplation, she spoke up again. "You know, you're not alone with the parent problems."

"Hmm?" Jeremy hummed, lips closed around the straw of his drink.

"It's kind of a long story, but the gist of it is that Damon compelled my parents to… well, not punish me for all the 'bad stuff' I do nowadays." She glanced at the boy out of the corner of her eyes, noticed the expression on his face. "I know right? You'd think I'd be loving the freedom but it's getting _way_ too weird. Like the other day when I came home after missing for two days? They didn't even bat an eye. My mother even made us hot chocolate when Damon asked."

Jeremy swallowed and licked his lips clean. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't know, to be honest." Aria shifted her grip on the steering wheel, a symptom of her confusion. "I mean… I guess it makes it easier to sneak out with my… boyfriend-" God, had she really just called Damon that? She'd never get used to her new life. "But I'm kind of missing the parental input. Plus, compulsion freaks me out."

"Then tell Damon to un-compel them."

Aria pouted, she wished it were that simple. "I tried, but he raised the point that if I did that then they'd start asking questions, which would put them in danger."

"And they probably wouldn't get the whole 'I'm dating a century old vampire and we also kill people together' thing."

"Hey! Technically Damon's the only one who's killed someone."

Jeremy donned a slight smile. "I'm pretty sure you said that… _you_ were the one who told Damon to turn the guy."

"Yes well I made him _undead_ ," Aria responded, surprised she could joke about the matter. For the past few days Aria had been suffering through intense guilt and regret, but here Jeremy was, making her feel almost… **normal** about it all. "But Damon updated his status to _deceased_."

"Now that's the kind of logic that starts you on your way to being a serial killer, and it's my duty as a good citizen of Mystic Falls to turn you in."

Aria felt herself smile wider at his light tone, so incredibly relieved he wasn't treating her like a freak. "If you did that then I'd have to take the milkshake back."

"You wouldn't," Jeremy argued, eyes narrowing in suspicion. He clutched his milkshake closer to his chest and turned away from her to protect his drink.

"Oh I would. didn't you hear? Apparently I'm all lined up to be a serial killer."

With a broad grin, Jeremy turned back around and captured her gaze with his nutmeg eyes. There was a stunning brightness in his shining gems that Aria hadn't seen before. It was a breathtaking moment, and Aria felt her heart well up with something indecipherable.

Then she had to concentrate on making a turn, and the moment was lost.

They drove through another three streets before Aria dared to break the silence. "So… are you **really** cool with all this… supernatural stuff?"

"I think so," Jeremy pronounced the words slowly as though he were testing them out.

"Because if you aren't, then I can just get Damon to compel you to forget. It'll be like nothing ever happened and you can get back to-"

"No way," Jeremy cut in. "It'll take some getting used to, sure, but I do _not_ want to forget." He caught her gaze and held it, eyes burning. "Promise me you won't get someone to compel me without my permission."

"I promise," Aria assured him without hesitation. "I would _never_ do that."

"Okay. Good."

Just as they finished _that_ little moment Aria pulled up to the Gilbert's home. She parked the car and hazarded a glance at Jeremy. "Well, this is it. Text me?"

"'Course." He unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out, but ducked his head back through before he closed the door. His dark eyes were intense with unreadable emotions. "Thanks for today, and for what you said about… how I was handling... everything."

His words surprised Aria, but an immediate influx of feels hit her hard, and she found herself unable to say anything that could even remotely cover what she wanted to. Stunned, she just gave him a nod.

Jeremy's lips quirked, pleased, and he shut the door before heading off towards his house.

All in all, Aria thought their second meeting went a lot better than their first.

X

Sorry this chapter's a lil shorter than usual, but longer than the last one! I'd love you guys to give me your opinion on how I'm writing Jeremy, because he's going to be a very important character from here on out and I want to make sure I'm getting this characterisation right! Anywho- have a good day/night my lovelies!


	15. Chapter 15

binderya22 : You'll have to wait and see how Jer and Aria go, but I'm all for jealous Damon! It will actually be very helpful for the plot, you'll see :P

MaddisenK : I am obsessed with Daria too tbh! DW, we'll get to the Jeremy/Damon/Aria relationship soon enough, so you don't have to decide! And the girl... you'll just have to wait and see

DarkDust27: I KNO RIGHT THEY ARE SO ADORAKABLE I LOVE THEM SOOO MUCH

LapisLazuliRose : AGH YES THEY ARE SO CUTE 2GETHER! And omg I wouldn't call myself exceptional but I'm glad you like my writing!

silverfoxkurama : I know I'm not much of a fan of most of the twin fics. They tend to all be very similar and one sided/ there's a very clear authors hating on some characters thing that I'm just not doing in my fic... I hope you enjoy the update!

bridget237 : Thank you I'm glad you're enjoying it! Yes I'm trying to be realistic with sexual orientations, I assume you mean that I'm writing the whole ace thing pretty well? And IKR I wanted ot keep their relationships realistic. I'm sick of fics where ther're just like... bam! Instant dating.

Holy shit you guys knocked it right out of the ballpark... again! So many review, you make me blush so hard guys! It's reading that you guys love this story that makes writing it worth it!

 **ILYSM:)** **( ˘ ³˘)ᵏᴵˢઽ Enjoy~!**

* * *

Damon turned up that night sporting a takeaway bag from Arby's and wearing his usual dark and broody attire. Aria _had_ been trying to recreate the Vampire Diaries timeline with all the new changes she'd made, but eventually it'd started to hurt her brain, so when he popped through the window she was just relaxing on her bed.

"How'd the fun with Jer-Bear go?" He asked.

She would never grow bored of his love for nicknames. "Good."

"Is he ready to hear the good stuff?"

"The good stuff?"

Damon smirked, flopping onto the bed and kicking his shoes up, lying right next to her side. "You know… how I've done so much bad stuff and how Stefan is an ex-ripper."

"He actually knows about all of that."

Surprised, Damon sat up too look down at her suspiciously. "Oh? Does he know about that month I held you captive and tortured you and drunk your blood?"

"Nope. Not yet. There's just _so much_ good stuff, I haven't gotten to the **best** stuff yet." Aria grinned at him, understanding how he was doing the whole 'I'm an awful person so you should hate me' routine. "He'll be cool with it. Don't worry."

"You have too much faith."

"No, I just have a super-awesome ability to know who I can and _can't_ trust." She couldn't help but feel like she was using the 'I can see the future' excuse _way_ too often, but it really was all counting on her Travelling power. "Jeremy's a good kid."

"You've said that, and I've heard that but I still don't _believe_ that. Okay, no more talk of this kid that's related to the she-devil. I brought curly fries," He smirked and offered her the bag.

She reached in and grabbed a few fries, sighing in content as she leaned against his side. "My head hurts."

"Did you get your butt whooped by another baby-werewolf?"

"No I've just been trying to figure out what move we should make that would better the future."

"Deep stuff." Damon's smirk turned devious. " _Perfect_ topic for deep fried potato strips."

"Preciously," Aria snatched another chip. "We'll need to act pretty soon. To open the tomb, we need a Bennett witch to do the spell and Emily's grimoire and I happen to know where that is."

Impressed, he settled back down and wrapped his arm around her. "Now I see why you befriended Bonnie. You just wanted to get into her witchy-woo pants."

"No, she's actually pretty nice." Aria defended, when in truth it _was_ one of the main reasons she had befriended the girl. "Either way, I'm going to convince her to help us open the tomb, but I need your help with something else."

"Ooo, scandalous." Damon sucked a french fry into his mouth, chewing in an obnoxious way. "Alrighty, I'll bite. What d'you need help with?"

"I kind of need you too…" Aria hesitated, unsure whether she should dare to speak the words. She had to though, things had to be done to better her new world, and on top of that- Aria knew who would end up dead, and it shouldn't matter 'when' they died, right? She didn't want to 'play God', but she _did_ want to protect her friends. Which meant, she had to be strong, like Damon had told her.

"Yeah?" Damon prompted, growing serious because of the intense moment. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. You know out of everyone, I'd probably understand the best."

"Okay." Aria sucked in a breath. "I need you to kill a woman called Isobel before she even gets near this town. She starts a chain reaction that draws the original vampires to this town, which ends in a bunch of shitty things happening to you and everyone else."

"Hold on, original vampires?"

Aria steadied herself, preparing to explain things she didn't really want Damon to be worrying out. It would be wrong of her though to keep _everything_ from him, she did consider him her… closest friend, after all. "The very first vampires ever created."

"Okay…" Damon drew the word out, fries forgotten in his lap. "I think we should save the mythology lesson for another time."

"Like when you haven't spent the day drinking?"

"Pretty much." Damon lazed back against the bed, turned his head in her direction. "Just tell me how to find Isobel, and I'll deal with it in my own time."

Really? It was that easy? Aria wondered when she'd earned Damon's trust so explicitly. "Um… Well she might be a woman you fucked and turned at some point in history."

"What?" Damon exclaimed. _That_ certainly sobered him even more. "What was her name again?"

"Isobel. I think she came to you interested in vampires and wanting to be turned…"

"Oh good gravy," Damon fake-swore. All it did was make Aria want some gravy to dip their fries in. "I _do_ remember her. Damn. Talk about a blast-from-the-past."

"Stay on topic," Aria chided softly. She needed to blab everything she knew before she chickened out. "Right now she's looking for a way to get into Klaus's- he's an original vampire by the way- get into his inner circle. When she does, he will _compel_ her to tell him everything she knows. You have to kill her before that happens."

"I'm not totally following you, but pretend I am. How do I find this ex-fling of mine?"

"You have to track down Maddox, he's one of Klaus's most trusted witches. Isobel will be looking for him too. Hopefully you can get to her before she gets to him." Aria pursed her lips, remembering the second part of her shitty plan. "We also need to hide the moonstone."

"The what?"

"It's a mystical object that binds the Hybrid Curse that was placed on Klaus after he triggered his werewolf curse and revealed his true hybrid curse. It binds his werewolf aspect and essentially makes him solely an Original vampire until he breaks the curse."

Aria had pretty much read that off the wiki page. Damon would never know though.

"Wait so Klaus is a werewolf, and a vampire? Damn. You know if killing this Isobel chick stops him from coming anywhere _near_ me, I'll do it in a heartbeat."

"And we have to hide the moonstone so there isn't another reason for him to check out Mystic Falls." A thought suddenly hit her. "Oh! And you have to kill Mason otherwise he's going to tell Katherine about the moonstone which is also a big no-no."

"Katherine?"

"Oops. I just broke our rule."

Damon winced. "Yeah so now I'm going to have to kill you."

"Okay let me just change, these are my favourite pants."

"Don't worry, I'm fully prepared for that." He hiked his leg over so he was straddling her, right hand snaking up to rest against the side of her neck in a slow caress. "I'll snap your neck. No mess."

Aria looked up at him and couldn't help but feel giddy from his affection. She gave him a sappy smile and reached up to slide her hand under his, entwining her fingers so he could no longer distract her by touching her so intimately. "I think we should get back to the problem at hand."

"Me too." Damon drifted closer, impossibly blue eyes shining in delight. "We haven't kissed in like...eight? Eight hours. I think _that_ definitely needs to be fixed."

"But Damon-"

"Yeah, Yeah. I got it. There's people you want me to kill, some of them I know, some of them I don't. Does any of this need to happen _tonight_?"

"No… I guess not." That seemed to be enough for Damon because he immediately pressed a passionate kiss to her lips. Aria was amused by his eagerness, so she went along with the breathtaking meeting of their lips, his soft and perfect against her own. When he pulled back to get a better angle, she hurried to speak up. "I've gotta admit, it was never my intention to get you to trust me so entirely that you'd act as my own personal hitman."

"And I appreciate that," Damon responded in a rush so they could get back to kissing. He grew more eager, sucking on her lower lip and nipping it with fangs Aria hadn't noticed were there. Damon savoured the few drops of her blood that appeared and moaned against her mouth. "You taste _soooo_ good."

"Flattery, Damon," She reminded. "But if you're hungry you can have a bite."

He pulled of in a sudden burst of movements, eyes flashing with something heated. "No way. I'm not drinking from you anymore."

"Why not? You just said I tasted 'good'. I'm cool with it, as long as you heal me after."

"Shh," Damon silenced her with another kiss. This time it was accompanied by a series of light nips down her neck, Damon's fangs drawing droplets of blood that he eventually licked up in one long line from the base of her collarbone to the edge of her jaw.

He paused though, pulling back with a frown when he noticed how Aria had frozen up. His eyes were alight with desire, burning with arousal. "Ari?"

"Sorry," Aria said, shifting a bit to get some space. She felt like a fucking idiot, and she'd never hated herself more than in that very moment.

"Too much?"

She felt her throat tighten, but she tried her best to get a word out. "No…"

Damon sighed and buried his face into her extra pillow. "I'm so stupid," he said, voice muffled by the feathery cushion. Aria crossed her arms, rubbing at her shoulders as though she were cold. God, what she wouldn't give to be able to disappear into the ground. He hid his face for a few more moments, then turned and peeked up at her. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay."

"No I shouldn't have done that."

"You don't have to make a big deal out of it." Aria had to turn away, she couldn't handle the regret and utter guilt in his eyes. "I'm just being stupid."

Damon was on top of her in an instant, tilting her chin up so he could hold her gaze. "You are _not_ being stupid. I crossed your boundaries and I'm sorry." He gave her a slight smile, blue eyes beautiful in their intensity. "Forgive me?"

"You know I already have."

"Heh," he smirked and then plopped back down next to her. He spun her around onto her side, then pulled her into a hug, spooning her from behind. Then he tilted his head up to nuzzle her neck, nose tickling her ear. "This better?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable," Damon apologised again, lips brushing against her cheek. "Let me just cool down for a bit then we'll get back to kissing."

Aria moaned in a pitiful manner. "I wish I had some _inkling_ of sexual attraction. Hell! I'd be happy being snail-sexual! Everything would be so much easier."

"No, because **then** I'd end up jealous of an molluscan."

Trust Damon to know exactly what to say to make her smile. She'd thought from the moment he'd started their relationship that there'd be a point where he'd snap, where he'd change his mind and admit that he thought she was just 'playing hard to get'. Even worse than that, maybe he'd just leave... give up on her because he missed sex. Yet... That hadn't happened. Perhaps it would... but for now...

"I don't deserve you."

His body stilled for a fraction of a second and she hoped that he would respond in an atypically genuine fashion, but of course he just smirked a moment after his falter. "Quite the contrary, in fact, _nobody_ deserves me." Damon teased. "Don't think you're special."

"And yet I get to be your little spoon."

"Yes and you're a _very_ pretty little spoon." Aria felt a blush dust her cheeks, and she did her best to hide her smile, but sure enough Damon noticed it and pressed a kiss to the corner of her upturned lips. "So I have a question, do you perchance have any plans for tonight?"

"Other than sitting here and looking up naughty pics of snails?" Aria joked. "No. Why?"

"Well I might have overheard Elena babbling about a… dance."

"A dance?"

"Yup. Why don't we go? I'll spike the punch~" He sang in an attempt to persuade her.

All of a sudden Aria felt stifled, and she skirted off the edge of the bed, away from Damon's warmth and comfort, coming to stand and turn her back to the vampire. "I… Uh…"

"Come on~! We had fun at the halloween party, and at Bree's too." He was standing in an instant, pushing against her from behind, taking her in his arms. His touch only made her feel worse, concern palpable.

Aria distanced herself _again_ and clasped her hands behind her back, looking at her feet so she wouldn't have to see his cerulean eyes. "I don't know, Damon… it's different from the halloween party, now it's real between me and you and it's…" She was at a loss for words that could possibly explain her feelings and intense anxiety. "Look it's just different."

Damon considered her, and she dared to meet his gaze. She couldn't quite discern what was hiding in his eyes, but whatever he decided it resulted in him giving her a shrug. "Okay," he said and then vanished.

Damn. First she'd fucked up by getting all freaked on him when he was just _kissing_ her, and now she'd messed up **again** by not wanting to go to one stupid party! God, why couldn't she just be friggin' normal? Why'd she have to get so hung up on things people would normally enjoy! Aria wanted nothing more in that moment than to be someone else. Someone who wasn't so crippled by petty worries-

"Hey." Aria spun around to see Damon standing by the open window. He'd changed into a charcoal tux, dark navy shirt that was accompanied by a dotted gray silk tie. He was stunning, perfection incarnate and she nearly died when she registered that his mussed hair was a by-product of their earlier make-out session. "Miss me?"

She hesitated though, realizing what his new attire meant. "What's going on?"

"I would tell you but that would ruin the dramatic, big reveal I have planned," he stepped forward, offering her his hand. "Now, if you'd do me the pleasure."

Aria couldn't resist his charm, his adoring gaze. She took his hand and at his touch felt all of her previous angst fade away. He smirked when her fingers became ensnared in his, and once her hand was settled he started dragging her towards the door.

"Hey!"

Damon flashed her a confident look. "Don't worry your pretty little red-head about it. I'm just going to take you to my car. That's all."

"I think I've learnt by now not to let you kidnap me."

"Shh." They left her room and started hurrying down the stairs. He was moving quicker than normal, excited. Aria would've tripped if he hadn't been holding her hand. "It's just a quick drive 'round the neighbourhood. Then we'll come right back."

It wasn't like she could really disagree. He was kind of holding onto her hand like their palms were glued together. He opened the front door for her, and she couldn't help but notice that the house was mysteriously quiet. Where had her parents gone? She could've sworn they were home.

"After you, Princess."

"Why thankyou, kind sir." She stepped outside, hand still knotted with Damon's. Aria enjoyed the breath of fresh air and then let Damon lead her to his car. Like usual, he opened the door for her and then raced around to his side. "Did you kill someone or something? Why're you acting so weird?"

"No reason." He didn't bother with his seatbelt and took off as soon as Aria had buckled hers. They'd just driven to the other side of the block when he pulled over and parked the car. He smirked at her, brilliant pink lips pulling into a tight line. "B.R.B," he said and then vanished once again.

Aria sat in the car and waited. She didn't even bother to try and puzzle out what he was up to. As long as it didn't end up with her dead. She just wished she hadn't let him drag her out without getting shoes first.

After about five minutes she grows bored of waiting, so she pulls out her phone- at least she'd brought that- and sent a text to Bonnie.

 _If I turn up dead_ , she typed, _make sure Jeremy gets my movie collection_.

It took a bit for her friend to reply. _? wut_

 _Damon took me on a mysterious car ride and now hes gone and idk what's going on_ , Aria responded. Just as she hit send she heard the door click open. Her bae, her honey buns, her sweetie pie had returned. _Nvm he's bck_ , she quickly texted so Bonnie wouldn't worry.

 _Too bad i was hoping to snag your Ipod dock. ttyl_.

Aria grinned and locked her phone just as Damon slid into the driver's side. "What's got you smiling? Did you finally find my twitter?"

"What?" Aria quirked a brow. "You have a twitter?"

"Nope."

She couldn't help but feel disappointed. "Oh."

"Wait… do you have a twitter?" At Aria's attempt to look innocent, he gasped. "But I thought Carc was the only bird for you!"

She scoffed just as he started the car and began driving again. Aria didn't understand why they bothered to get in the car in the first place, they did just drive around the block. Maybe he just wanted to show off the new wax job on the car. Aria had to admit, it looked fantastic.

As they rounded the corner back towards her place, she spotted it. In a very slow and dramatic fashion the reason for Damon's spontaneous joy ride was revealed. Glistening fairy lights sparkled as they dangled from chords strung over the front pathway. Instead of the dull sight of pavement, the ground was covered by a downy red carpet. It was magical and dazzling, the sunset cast shadows along the front lawn that only added to the overwhelming effect.

"Damon…" Aria breathed as they pulled up to the front of her house. "What is all of this?"

He parked the car and hopped out of his seat, coming around to open the door for her. She'd never get used to the gesture. "Well I figured," he began as Aria climbed out of her seat. "I like parties. You seem to like parties, as long as they don't involve _people_. Why not make tonight into our own super awesome party by making us the _only_ guests." He snatched her hand again, closing the door for her and then directing her towards the house. "We're VIP's too, in case you didn't realize.

"This is…" Aria trailed off, looking up in awe at the sparkling lights above them. Even if he was a vampire, this had still been a lot of effort for him to have gone to and she was speechless.

"Incredible? Magnificent? Spectacular?" Damon smirked and nudged open the door for her just a crack. "Do my efforts deserve a kiss?"

She couldn't help herself. Seeing Damon standing there with his doting gaze and impeccable style, like seriously, she was very much enjoying the masterpiece he'd managed to throw together. It was rare to see him in something not-black, and she honestly didn't understand why given how phenomenal he looked in blue. "Maybe just one."

He waggled his brows and then ducked his head to give her an ardent kiss. When their lips parted Aria was breathless, mind overwhelmed from everything that was going on. "Let's go inside," Damon offered with his patented lip quirk.

Aria drew a breath to try and regain a solid train of thought, and headed inside, preparing herself for whatever might lay within.

At first there didn't seem to be anything different, but then she heard the sound of music and the smell of food, luring her into the dining room. As she entered she noticed the lights were off, but there were candles flickering romantically all around and at the center, waiting on the table, was a steaming box of pizza that made Aria's stomach rumble eagerly.

 _Fuck the fries_ , Aria decided. Screw chicken being her favorite food, pizza was #1 now.

Belatedly she noticed that the song playing was Demons by Imagine Dragons. At first she was confused, because she knew for a fact Damon didn't care for that kind of music, but then it clicked. She whirled to face him, startled a bit when she found him right behind her. He was staring down at her with his intense blue eyes, vulnerable expression on his sculptured face.

"You remembered," she whispered in shock, thinking back to the time where they'd joked about Kidz Bop. In all honesty, she'd never expect for Damon to have remembered such tiny things.

His smile grew, and Aria felt her chest swell at the sight. "Do you like it?"

Aria could barely hold back her tears of happiness. She didn't think she could have imagined a more perfect end to their evening. He'd completely washed away any bad feelings she felt about not being able to go to her school's party. Now all she felt was extreme gratitude for Damon and everything he'd done for her.

"It's perfect," she told him and pulled him into a ridiculously cheesy- but perfect- hug.

X

The next morning Aria was lulled into consciousness, warmed by the soft body laying next to her. Damon was wrapped around her, leg resting between her two calves, arms encasing her in a comforting embrace. It was the best way she'd woken up… _ever_ , and she savoured it for the few moments that she could.

In sleep, Damon's face appeared gentle, lines of his careful facade smoothed by unconsciousness. Aria realized though, that everyday she was seeing less and less of his mask, and more of his real feelings. Sure, she knew he was still the same old Damon, the Damon that would kill if someone pissed him off enough or if he didn't get his way, but at the same time he was _her_ Damon as well. The Damon she cared for, the Damon that had changed _everything_.

"Morning sunshine," Damon chirped, eyes cracking open to reveal flawless blue gems. He had an almost dopey smile on his face as he gazed at her. "I was kind of worried you regretted last night, but you're still here so I guess not."

"Eh. You were happy, so I was happy." Aria paused, felt her brows furrow. "You were happy right?"

"Very much so," Damon purred, lashes fluttering as he remembered. Aria felt herself blush a bit, but she couldn't help but feel pleased she hadn't messed it up. "I mean.. you're technique could use some work, but you _more than_ made up for it with enthusiasm."

"Well you did do a pretty good job of romanticising me last night." Aria smiled, cuddling up closer to him. "Had to make it up somehow."

"To be honest I wasn't expecting you to try the whole 'flute playing' thing you'd mentioned you'd wanted to do, but believe me, I am _not_ complaining."

Aria chuckled at his words and pulled the blanket up higher to shield herself from his pointed gaze. "Yeah well you won't be witnessing another session of my 'flute playing' if you keep making it so _obvious_." She was suffering a severe case of embarrassment right at that moment, and she was just glad that Damon had compelled her parents to stay the night at a motel- as he had told her in breaks between kisses.

"Aww… Have I told you recently how adorable you're innocence is?" Aria didn't bother with a response to that, just hid her face by nuzzling into his chest. Maybe if she stayed under the blankets then they could forget the previous night. "Hey don't hide! I'll start missing your smile."

 _Damn it_ , Aria thought as she let out an amused giggle. _He_ _ **had**_ _to stop knowing what to say_.

"Morning pleasantries aside, I've got a big day ahead of me- what with all the _murdering_ you want me to do." He slid out from her reach and left Aria with no chest to hide behind. Damon stood letting the sheet drop from him to reveal his very not safe for work form. "Which includes me getting showered and dressed. I'm just glad you swallowed."

"Damon!" Aria squeaked as she emerged from the covers. "Please don't."

"What?" Damon asked, then paused when he noticed Aria staring. "Hmm?"

"You are one fine work of art. Maybe I don't want to jump your bones, but I sure as hell have to admit you're _definitely_ something to look at." Aria appraised him for a moment longer, then nodded and climbed out of bed. At least she still had her underwear on. "It's too bad really. Your good looks are wasted on me."

"Eh, I wouldn't say _wasted_ ," he said and then hollowed his cheeks, poking his tongue at the inside of his mouth in rapid bursts in a _very_ dignified gesture.

Aria groaned and threw his pants at him.

Damon caught it with his cheaty vampire reflexes and saluted her. "Thanks babe!"

 _Fucking asshole_ , Aria thought, but couldn't resist the smile growing on her face.

X

I'd like to point out that I live in Australia and DO NOT KNOW anything about Arby's.

Also I hope you all got the hint that she gave him a good old BJ. My little Aria is growing up (wipes away a tear.)


End file.
